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| Thu, 8th Dec 2022 14:52:00 |
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COP27: What was agreed at the Sharm el Sheikh climate conference? |
A new global climate pact - the Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan - was agreed at the COP27 summit.
It included a historic commitment by richer nations to give money to developing nations to help them recover from the damage and economic losses wreaked from ongoing climate change impacts.
This comes after a year of devastating climate change-related disasters, from severe floods in Pakistan to ongoing drought in East Africa.
But there was also disappointment expressed by some world leaders that there was no agreement to reduce fossil fuel usage.
What was in the COP27 Plan?
The plan - although not legally binding - has provided new ambitions for the world's nations on climate change.
For the first time countries agreed to establish a "loss and damage" fund.
This will be a pot of money to help poorer nations recover from the impacts of climate change, such as destroyed homes, flooded land or lost income from dried-out crops.
Previously, these countries have only received money for mitigation - efforts to move away from fossil fuels, and adaptation. This is money to prepare for the future impacts of climate change.
The issue of loss and damage has been highly controversial. Richer nations have previously not wanted to agree to a new fund as they thought it would make them liable to cover all economic losses from climate change.
How much countries will get from the fund - and by when - is still to be decided.
At last year's summit, COP26, in Glasgow, countries agreed to "phase down" coal. At one point during this year's negotiations countries were discussing expanding that to include oil and gas.
But no final agreement was reached.
Instead countries committed to "enhancing a clean energy mix, including low-emission and renewable energy".
But the phrase "low-emission energy" has raised concerns.
It has not been formally defined, and there is worry that it could open the door to more gas development - as burning gas produces less emissions than other fossil fuels like coal.
The UK's independent climate change body, the UKCCC, concluded there had been "limited progress on ambition to reduce emissions".
And the UK's Alok Sharma, who was COP President in Glasgow, said he was "pretty disappointed we haven't moved much further than what we got in Glasgow".
What else was agreed in Sharm el-Sheikh?
A flurry of other announcements was made.
Read original full article
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