By Katia Mello and Magner Dantas
Floods, droughts, forest fires, heatwaves and extreme weather conditions are increasingly frequent events. The planet is experiencing a climate crisis and the consequences can already be felt by everyone, especially the poorest.
The COP is an environmental conference organized by the UN with a focus on the climate crisis that threatens the future of the Earth. In its 27th edition, the event took place in the coastal city of Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, from November 6 to 18, to discuss actions to combat the global climate crisis.
The COP-27 discussed urgent issues against the climate crisis and the investments needed to curb global warming, as well as funding for the countries that are already feeling the brunt of the changes. Scientists from all over the world and experts in climate studies say that emissions need to be reduced by at least 7% a year for the next 28 years, i.e. until 2050, to prevent the situation from getting even worse. The challenge is huge.
The conference began with a meeting of world leaders, with representatives from 196 countries and civil society organizations from all over the world. The opening was marked by a warning from UN Secretary General António Guterres. "We are on the road to climate hell, with our foot on the accelerator," he said, during an appeal for nations to work on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. According to the World Meteorological Organization report pointed out by Guterres, the last 8 years have been the hottest in history since records began. Among the main themes of these conferences is the climate fund, which establishes financial transfers from rich nations to developing countries, as a way of guaranteeing the protection of the populations most vulnerable to extreme weather events. "Humanity has a choice: cooperate or perish. Either a climate solidarity pact or a collective suicide pact," said Guterres.
Guterres also expressed his interest in creating a global climate pact, led by China and the US, the two biggest powers in the world and the two countries that pollute the most.
Main results of COP-27
The conference began in a climate of pressure on the world's main leaders, as there was an expectation that major decisions would have to be taken regarding the challenges and commitments announced at the last meeting in Glasgow (Scotland). Among these challenges were the need to come up with solutions to accelerate the cut in global greenhouse gas emissions, the main causes of climate change, the search for ways to implement climate finance for climate action and the creation of a climate loss and damage fund for the planet's most vulnerable countries.
After progress at the start of the COP, the pressure has increased. The last week began with event president Sameh Shoukry calling for more ambitious targets.
The final versions of the texts with proposed agreements took a long time to come out. One of the main obstacles in the discussions with representatives of the 196 countries was the establishment of the loss and damage fund, in which emerging and developing nations demand financial compensation to pay for the climate damage caused by developed countries, the planet's biggest polluters. The lack of action was harshly criticized by leaders of poor nations.
At the end of the conference, the participating countries concluded an agreement whose main and historic breakthrough was the creation of a "new fund" for Loss and Damage so that rich countries can pay to compensate for the damage that vulnerable countries have already suffered and so that they can finance new actions to adapt to the consequences of climate change. In order for the commitment to be effectively concluded, a transition committee has been set up with 24 representatives from developed and developing countries whose aim will be to define how the new fund will be structured and operationalized by COP28, scheduled to take place in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.
Although it is a historic commitment, it is necessary and urgent that significant progress is made in the discussions on the ambitions of the climate targets which, since Glasgow, have been "stalled" and, to make matters worse, with countries trying to go back on what was previously agreed.
Failing to make progress in efforts to limit gas emissions, accelerating each nation's climate plans and effectively obtaining adequate funding for adaptation and mitigation actions for the impacts already generated, makes the new fund a permanently palliative solution that may, at some point, not be sufficient for extreme weather events, which are highly unusual and increasingly present in people's lives, especially the most vulnerable.
Brazil's performance at the COP
President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called on the richest countries to fulfill their commitments to transfer resources to combat the effects of climate change in the most vulnerable countries. Another important and impactful speech was Brazil's commitment to zero deforestation by 2030 and to punish illegal mining, logging and farming in our territory. The elected congresswoman, Marina Silva, defended the United States' contribution in investments to the Amazon Fund, which aims to raise donations to prevent, monitor and combat deforestation.
In the Amazon rainforest, we have the largest concentration of biodiversity on the planet, with an incalculable ecological dimension and importance, as well as favorable conditions for making the transition to clean energy sources. One of the main paths discussed at the conference. Investing in nature is a path that Brazil must and can follow, not only by managing and monitoring our lands against deforestation, but also by protecting wet habitats such as coral reefs, mangroves, which are ecosystems that can reduce flooding and erosion, helping to protect communities living in coastal areas.
Government policies on afforestation and the implementation of green areas in large cities are examples of natural climate solutions that can contribute to the sum of actions to mitigate emissions. Increasing the number of areas with these characteristics in large urban centers helps to absorb flood waters and combat the heat islands seen in the central regions of large cities, where the more wooded areas have cleaner air.
The role of companies in reducing carbon emissions
The private sector also has a role to play in this process, with objective actions to achieve zero carbon emissions in its operations. The first step is to implement clean and renewable energy sources in its operations which, in the medium term, will show results in reduced operating costs and low gas emissions, thus cooperating with global objectives. Sectors where it is not possible to implement clean energy sources in their processes should seek out carbon trading and buy credits to offset their emissions, i.e. they would pay to preserve threatened areas or restore impacted areas that do not regenerate naturally.
Climate crisis and citizen awareness
As a human being, a living organism that we are and that we are inserted in this environment, in other words, we are part of this process, being directly impacted by the decisions and agreements that the leaders make at the conference, we can get involved by looking for information on the subject of climate change and from there multiply and share our knowledge in our social groups, on our social networks. We can engage in actions that help preserve and talk about the environment, or actions that warn of the threats and effects that climate change can have on our lives.
Criticism from experts
At the end of the conference, experts concluded that the overall balance of COP-27 was not so positive. The conference was billed as the "COP of implementation", but in reality, the discussions were very stuck and still defining the stages prior to implementation. There was little sign of the unlocking of mechanisms that will allow for the actual implementation of urgent measures to transform the crisis scenario.
