COP27 negotiators seek agreement after climate conference ends

Country representatives at COP27 must make a final effort to reach an agreement, even after this year’s climate conference is over. The last events were held this Friday (18).

Negotiators have yet to agree on funding sources to compensate countries ravaged by climate catastrophes such as weather-induced floods, droughts, storms and forest fires.

An official draft agreement released on Friday morning only reaffirmed previous commitments to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius – the point at which scientists say the effects of climate change will get much worse.

In a potential breakthrough, the European Union said on Thursday it would support a demand by the G77 group of 134 developing countries to create a fund to help them deal with so-called “loss and damage”.

But it was not clear on Friday whether developing countries would accept the EU’s stipulation that funding come from a broad base of countries, including China, and that only “the most vulnerable countries” would benefit from aid.

Delegates were still waiting to hear how the United States and China would respond. Some countries, including the EU and Britain, also pushed for the overall agreement in Egypt to secure country commitments to more ambitious climate action.

Others, including India, expect the final deal to ask countries to phase out all use of fossil fuels rather than just coal – an idea that resource-rich countries, especially in Africa, have resisted.

An agreement at COP27 must be reached with the support of all the nearly 200 countries present. For comprehensive daily coverage of COP27 in your inbox, sign up for the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter here.