COP 27: AGENDA AND EXPECTATIONS

November 08, 2022

ONLY TOGETHER CAN WE WIN At COP 27, loss and damage must not to be pushed away with another puny promise of a fund that never materialises but be accepted as a legitimate demand of countries that need climate reparations
- SUNITA NARAIN

I t’s a nightmare moment for climate change activists like me as we head for the next conference of parties (COP 27)—this time being organised in the coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt. The rich world, which has to act decisively to cut fossil fuel emissions and to finance transitions in the rest of the world, is going through its own economic crisis. Energy prices are high; this winter, it will be tough for households to stay warm. Climate change sceptics and the fossil fuel industry are close to taking a victory lap as they whip up public opinion against the needed energy transition—out of fossil fuel and into cleaner sources. The rich countries are already moving towards reinvestment in fossil fuels, although they say this is temporary and that they will go back to meeting their commitments to decarbonise. It’s going to be a hard winter and beyond