Statement from Global Citizen re: the Final Outcomes of COP27

COP27 will be remembered for its progress on loss and damage, culminating in a deal for new financial arrangements, including the creation of a new fund. It’s essential the work must now start in earnest, especially to mobilize the new and additional funds needed. It’s clear issues still need to be resolved on which countries should contribute to the fund, and which countries will be eligible to receive. The fight to secure Climate Justice is far from over.

We have to ask ourselves: how credible are any new commitments, given the failure to make progress in other key areas? How can we take any of these new commitments seriously given promises that continue to go unmet?

COP27 seems to retract on the $100B pledge in climate finance, a promise already broken two years in a row. There was no mention of delivering on the promise in 2023 despite prior assurances this would be the case. This is unacceptable, especially if put back to back with the fact that fossil fuel subsidies rose to $440B in 2021. The World Cup kicking off is expected to cost $200B and yet the Parties could not agree to close a $16.7B gap in the $100bn climate finance annual pledge to the poorest countries.

While this year’s COP issued a strong call to multilateral development banks to finally align with the Paris Agreement, it missed an opportunity to call on them to triple their financing for climate by 2025. Such a call could have yielded tens, if not hundred billion dollars in new loans. It is not a substitute for more grants from wealthy countries that could be given to the poorest nations, many of which are already in debt distress.

The world is on a global warming trajectory to above 2.6 degrees, no movement was made on phasing out (or even just phasing down) of ALL fossil fuels. New financial arrangements and declarations will not improve the situation, if they are not met with decisive action to phasing out all fossil fuels, while investing into renewables and a just energy transition for all. This was a missed opportunity to move beyond what was agreed to in Glasgow.

The outcome of the COP is slightly better on adaptation financing, planning a progress report next year on the target to double this type of financing by 2025.

— Michael Sheldrick, Co-Founder & Chief Policy, Impact and Government Affairs Officer, Global Citizen.