NEW DELHI: The first UN draft for an overarching agreement at the end of the ongoing COP27 climate summit in Egypt, mentions the goal of capping global warming below 1.50C but glosses over India’s proposal to phase down all fossil fuels, not just coal.
Called a non-paper, the draft is expected to undergo extensive changes. But in its present form, it is a recipe for climate hell, Greenpeace warned. The draft calls for accelerating measures towards phase out of coal power while rationalising inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. India, on the other hand, is lobbying for putting all fossil fuels in the same basket for the phase out like coal, gas and crude oil. India’s position has support from the European Union, but is expected to be opposed by Saudi Arabia, whose economy is heavily reliant on fossil fuel export.
On Tuesday, EU Vice President Frans Timmermans had said the bloc would support India’s proposal “if it comes on top of what we already agreed in Glasgow”.
Citing the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Indian negotiators had said meeting the long-term goal of the Paris Agreement “requires phase down of all fossil fuels”.
“Selective singling out of sources of emissions, for either labelling them more harmful, or labelling them ‘green and sustainable’ even when they are sources of greenhouse gases, has no basis in the best available science,” they said.
That apart, the cover text of the draft does not mention when a loss and damage finance facility will be launched and its contours. Poor and developing countries have demanded a fund to address loss and damage — a term used for irreparable destruction caused by climate change-fuelled disasters, at this edition of the COP. The first draft includes many of the details that were agreed upon in COP26 in Glasgow, which includes keeping the global warming target below 1.50C.
Climate hell
“The latest draft cover note from the COP27 Presidency pushes the pedal to the metal on the highway to climate hell,” YebSaño, executive director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said in a statement