After COP27, it’s time to change who chairs these events, argues Murad Qureshi. Below we give a diverse range of verdicts from different organisations that attended

As COP27 was completed at Sharm El-Sheikh last weekend, we saw some major progress on the establishment of a Loss and Damage Fund, which had been pursued strongly by the Global South. Yet there was resistance again to the mention of the future of fossil fuels at all, as in all the previous COPs. This is a decade where we need to reduce our global greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent by 2030, to be able to reach net zero in 2050. So a COP where the Chair failed to focus on this has come up short again on the main issue.

The host and chair of the annual COPs has become a hostage to fortune. Next year COP will be in Dubai after Egypt’s chairmanship ends in November 2023. It clearly matters who chairs these annual gatherings.

With COP28 going to Dubai and chaired by the United Arab Emirates, l do not hold out much hope until their chairmanship ends at the outset of COP29, wherever that may be. As a petrodollar state, l cannot see the UAE agreeing to the mention of fossil fuels, let alone the decline in their use. It will also be interesting to see which states actually contribute to the Loss and Damage Fund from the Global North, if any do at all.

You only have to look to Qatar to see what can be expected. With the Qatar World Cup beginning immediately after @COP27, its climate change impact could not be any more emphasised. We have a World Cup hosted by a petrodollar state at the greatest expense on the environment!

It is estimated that the Qatar World Cup will have ten times the carbon impact of the previous Russian World Cup in 2018. Almost all the fans will be flown into and out of Qatar on a daily basis from other Middle Eastern hubs, as Doha will not be able to accommodate them. And let us not forget the air conditioning of the stadiums as well. Quite honestly, it would have been much better if they had made a major contribution to reducing global warming with the money involved at the COP instead.

But that’s probably too much to expect from petrodollar states like the United Arab Emirates. So it is time these annual COPs were held in the global cities of Asia like Delhi, Beijing or Dhaka and chaired by their respective countries.  The influence held by the chair would at least shape the COP sessions and where they are going They might  even mention fossil fuels and point the finger at that industry.

President Lula of Brazil, after being elected recently, has offered to host the COP in the middle of the Amazon in Brazil sometime soon in the near future. I trust the COP Secretariat in Bonn will take such an offer seriously and help shift the emphasis towards the Global South in doing so.

Murad Qureshi was a member of the London Assembly from 2004 to 2016 and from 2020 to 2021. He blogs at www.muradqureshi.com and is on twitter @MuradQureshiLDN.

Other views

Heidi Chow, Debt Justice:

As the COP27 climate conference finished at the weekend, climate campaigners condemned the failure to agree a phase-out all fossil fuels and emissions reduction. However, alongside the anger at the lack of political will and inaction, there was also a huge victory – a new fund has been agreed to address the loss and damage unleashed by climate-driven disasters. 

Civil society groups and campaigners from across the world have been fighting for this fund for decades. Debt Justice campaigners together with thousands of others had ramped up the pressure ahead of last week’s COP, making this a real win for our global movement… 

Lower income countries are being hit relentlessly by catastrophic climate disasters. In Pakistan, widespread flooding in August destroyed homes, towns, farmlands, crops and infrastructure. Pakistan was already in a debt crisis, paying out $50 million a day in debt repayments. It is due to pay $18bn this year alone, which represents 40% of government income. 

But now Pakistan is also facing a bill of around $40 billion for the damage. Like many other lower income countries, it is responsible for less than one percent of global carbon emissions and yet it faces a worsening debt crisis to pay for a climate disaster that it had no responsibility for causing. 

Nick Dearden, Global Justice Now:

The battle for loss and damage was won, and this deal offers a sliver of hope for vulnerable countries who are already facing the devastating impacts of the climate crisis. They have fought tooth and nail for this outcome and it is a testament to their decades of perseverance that we are even discussing it at all. This is an historic win for them, and for civil society too. It is a small piece of the justice we have demanded for so long.

But the COP process must change if we are to really make headway in fighting the climate crisis.

With over 600 fossil fuel lobbyists patrolling the halls and striking deals on the side for new projects, and even the BP chief executive listed as a country delegate sitting in negotiations, this was like inviting arsonists to a firefighting convention.

We all know this goes on, and yet still this farcical cycle continues.

It’s no surprise then that this final text has made no progress on phasing out fossil fuels. If that wasn’t bad enough, any country that decides to phase out fossil fuels anyway is at risk of companies suing for huge sums under trade agreements like the Energy Charter Treaty.

We’re moving backwards on already borrowed time. It’s time to make polluters pay up for their climate damages and kick them out of the COP for good.

We don’t have time to do this every couple of years, making the same arguments and taking baby steps toward progress, with no guarantee of proper commitment.

The target of 1.5 degrees is all but dead. Only radical, transformational systems change can save us now.

Asad Rehman, War on Want:

Battle lines were drawn at COP27 between rich countries and poor countries. The US, EU, UK and others came to the Summit with empty words, hollow promises and a refusal to take responsibility for having set the planet on fire and destroying millions of lives and livelihoods.

But we leave the Summit with a glimmer of hope that the establishment of a Loss and Damage Fund will provide much needed support to those on the frontlines of the climate catastrophe. It’s a small step, a critical one, but an empty fund means nothing. Rich countries who continue to pollute must now provide real finance to the fund.

This historic victory was only made possible because of people power. The unprecedented pressure by climate justice groups and the refusal of developing countries to be bullied or divided, dragged rich countries kicking and screaming across the line.

Sara Shaw, Friends of the Earth International:

“It is a relief that the Loss and Damage fund has finally been established, after decades of struggle. But, right now, it is an empty fund, and we have a huge challenge ahead to ensure that developed countries contribute to it, in line with justice and equity. We must not see a repeat of the abysmal performance of rich countries failing to provide the already inadequate $100 billion a year promised over a decade ago.”

Gabriela Bucher, Oxfam International:

The establishment of a loss and damage fund is a monumental achievement for vulnerable developing countries and communities at the frontlines of the climate crisis. They have been calling for funding to cope with the devastating impacts of climate change for over 30 years.

Given the urgency on the ground, the fund must be operationalized as soon as possible. Rich countries largely responsible for warming our planet should immediately mobilize substantial new and additional resources to pay for climate-related damage in vulnerable countries.

In East Africa, nearly 40 million people are experiencing climate-induced hunger. Recent catastrophic floods in Pakistan have inflicted more than $30 billion in damages and economic losses and left 10 to 12 percent of the country’s land area under water, affecting more than 33 million people. The list of extreme weather events and disasters is growing, as are the devastating impacts on communities.

“While we applaud the establishment of the loss and damage fund, we remain deeply concerned about countries’ failure to agree on an equitable and urgent phase-out of all fossil fuels…

Rich countries have broken their $100 billion climate finance promise and successfully blocked language at COP27 that would have required them to compensate for earlier shortfalls through increased climate finance in subsequent years. Climate finance is needed in the trillions for adaptation and mitigation…

We are also dismayed by the discussions to enhance the Gender Action Plan, which was at the heart of the UNFCCC [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change] processes for gender-responsive climate action. Gender was only marginally mentioned, if at all, in the climate talks’ decisions.

Babawale Obayanju, Friends of the Earth Africa:

The fact that the outcome only talks about ‘phasedown of unabated coal power’ is a disaster for Africa and for the climate. Oil and gas must also be phased out, swiftly and fairly. One small word, ‘unabated’, creates a huge loophole, opening the door to new fossil-based hydrogen and carbon capture and storage projects, which will allow emissions to continue. We don’t need more gas extraction in Africa, devastating our communities for the benefit of rich countries and corporations. What we needed from COP27 was agreement to a rapid, equitable phase out of all fossil fuels.”

Hemantha Withanage, Friends of the Earth Sri Lanka:

The decision on carbon markets is deeply worrying. Whilst COP27 has temporarily delayed moves to put geoengineering, dangerous and untested technologies, and nature-based solutions into carbon offset markets, we know these threats will rear their heads again, giving cover for continued emissions by polluters, grabbing of land, forests and water from vulnerable communities, and violations of peoples’ rights.

Global Justice Now Reportback from COP27

When: Friday 9 December, 7pm

Where: Dragon Hall, 17 Stukeley Street, London WC2B 5LT

Register here

Image: Climate emergency demonstration. London, November 12th. c/o Mike Phipps