Climate Target Still On 'Life Support' Despite Cop27 Deal

A historic Cop27 deal to address the devastating effects of the climate crisis is an important step forward but the failure to cut greenhouse gas emissions means our planet is still in the emergency room”, the UN secretary-general has warned.

- Saphora Smith Louise Boyle

A deal was reached in the early hours of yesterday morning in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to establish a fund to compensate vulnerable countries for the irreparable climate damage they have suffered, in a major breakthrough for nations that are experiencing the most serious effects of the climate emergency. But on the crucial issue of limiting global heating in an effort to avoid the most catastrophic consequences that could result, many feel that the Sharm” pact is fundamentally lacking.

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said that the conference had made progress, but let’s be clear: our planet is still in the emergency room. We need to drastically reduce emissions now and this is an issue this Cop did not address. A fund for loss and damage is essential but it’s not an answer if the climate crisis washes a small island state off the map, or turns an entire African country to desert. The world still needs a giant leap on climate ambition.”

His comments were echoed by prime minister Rishi Sunak, who said more must be done” to tackle the climate crisis, while Cop26 president Alok Sharma described the target to limit global heating to 1.5C by the end of the century as being on life support”.

And while he marvelled at the way in which loss and damage funding had come to the fore at the end of this year’s summit, Sir David King, the UK’s former special envoy on climate change, said the destruction will simply increase unless we can give up on our dependence on fossil fuels”. Shadow climate change secretary Ed Miliband also expressed deep concern” that the world was not going fast enough” to keep the 1.5C target alive.