The 27th Conference of the Parties (COP 27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held from November 6 – 20, 2022 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Arab Republic of Egypt.
- The COP 28 to the UNFCCC will be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from November 30 to December 12, 2023.
Click here to read Part I of the Highlights of UNFCCC COP 27.
BASIC Group Ministers Meet at COP27 in Egypt
At the COP 27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Ministers from the BASIC (Brazil, South Africa, India, and China) Group emphasized the notion of “Common but Differentiated Responsibilities ” (CBDR) and respective capabilities in light of national situations.
- The meeting was presided over by H.E. Ms. Barbara Creecy, Minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment of the Republic of South Africa.
The BASIC Ministers emphasized that, despite great developmental obstacles and poverty eradication constraints, the BASIC countries continue to lead in climate change activities.
Click Here for BASIC Ministerial Joint Statement.
CDRI Announces Infrastructure Resilience Accelerator Fund at COP27
During the India Pavilion at the COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) unveiled the Infrastructure Resilience Accelerator Fund (IRAF), a CDRI multi-partner trust fund.
Infrastructure Resilience Accelerator Fund (IRAF)
i.IRAF is a multi-donor trust fund created with the assistance of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).
- It will be administered by the United Nations Multi-Partner Trust Fund Office (UN MPTFO) to assist global action on disaster resilience of infrastructure systems, particularly in developing nations and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
ii.IRAF has already received around USD 50 million in financial commitments over a five-year period.
iii.It is also backed by the governments of India, the United Kingdom (UK), Australia, and the European Union (EU).
Union Environment Minister Participates in A Session On “Accelerating Resilient Infrastructure in Small Island Developing States (SIDS)” At COP 27
Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India, took part in a session on “Accelerating Resilient Infrastructure in Small Island Developing States (SIDS)” on the margins of COP 27 at the UNFCCC Pavilion.
- The agenda of this session was to showcase the “Infrastructure for Resilient Island States” (IRIS) vision for 2022-2030 and to launch the first “Call for Proposals.”
Other Participants: Mr. Kavydass Ramano, Minister for Environment, Solid Waste and Climate Change, Government of Mauritius, Senator Matthew Samuda, Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Government of Jamaica and representatives from AOSIS and Fiji.
Key Points:
i.IRIS will be the first initiative to be implemented through the Infrastructure Resilience Accelerator Fund (IRAF), which was established at COP 27 by the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the CDRI in September 2019 in New York, United States (US).
- It strives to increase the resilience of new and existing infrastructure systems to climate and disaster threats in order to support sustainable development.
ii.The Government of India intends to use IRIS to assist SIDS around the world in making new and existing infrastructure more robust to disaster and climate threats.
Click Here for More Information On IRIS
Note: According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report, the responsibility for warming is directly proportional to the contribution to cumulative carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
Praj & ESIIC Partner to Accelerate Bioeconomy in Egypt
Praj Industries Limited (Praj), an Indian industrial biotech company, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Egyptian Sugar and Integrated Industries Company (ESIIC) on the sidelines of COP27 in Egypt.
- Both parties will pursue sustainable climate actions as part of this MoU to address the consequences of climate change.
Key Points:
i.The MoU provides for the establishment of 1st and 2nd Generation ethanol projects in Egypt.
- In order to mainstream the bioeconomy, Praj and ESIIC will build infrastructure, aid in the design of policy frameworks, raise awareness, etc.,
ii.Sugarcane bagasse and rice straw are proposed as feedstock for Egypt’s first 2nd-Generation ethanol project.
COP27: EIB Global, AllianzGI Announce USD 100 Million Funding for RE Project
The Emerging Market Climate Action Fund (EMCAF) has announced a USD 25 million investment in Alcazar Energy Partners II, a fund that provides early-stage equity financing for renewable energy (RE) projects in the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia.
- This pledge is in line with that of EIB Global, the dedicated arm for outside the EU of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group, which has committed USD 75 million to the fund.
EMCAF is an innovative blended finance fund launched by the EIB and Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI) to finance climate mitigation and adaptation projects in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
Pakistan Will Be Among First to Receive G7 ‘Global Shield’ Climate Funding
The Vulnerable Twenty (V20) group of finance ministers—representing 58 vulnerable countries to climate change—and the G7 (group of seven) industrialized countries established the Global Shield Against Climate Risks initiative at the COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
- The Global Shield initiative, led by Germany, the G7’s current president, intends to give climate-vulnerable nations rapid access to insurance and funds for disaster relief in the case of floods or droughts.
The first countries to receive aid from the Global Shield initiative are Pakistan, Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Fiji, Senegal, the Philippines, and Ghana.
Key Points:
i.Initial funding for the project comes from Germany with 170 million euros, Denmark with 35 million Danish kroner, Ireland with 10 million euros, and Canada with seven million dollars.
ii.The initiative is also supported by other countries such as the United Kingdom (UK), the United States (US) and United Nations (UN) organizations such as the UNDP and the UNDRR.
“In our LiFEtime” Campaign Launched by India at COP 27, Sharm El-Sheikh
At a side event of COP 27 in Egypt, MoEFCC and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) together launched the “In Our LiFEtime” campaign.
- The campaign aims to inspire young people aged 18 to 23 to become message-bearers of sustainable lifestyles.
LiFE – Lifestyle for Environment
i.Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced the concept of LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) during COP 26 in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2021.
ii.Later, on June 5, 2022, in honour of World Environment Day, India embarked on the LiFE mission by establishing the LiFE Global Movement.
iii.The Mission LiFE logo and tagline were recently unveiled at the Statue of Unity in Gujarat in the presence of United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG) Antonio Guterres.
iv.India has included LiFE in its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to take climate-related actions.
- The P3 model, or Pro Planet People, is embodied by Mission LIFE.
COP27: Australia Announces to Sign Up with Global Offshore Wind Alliance
At the COP27 in Egypt, Australia’s Climate Change Minister, Chris Bowen, stated that Australia will join the Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA), an international pledge to create more offshore wind projects.
- The GOWA seeks to boost the capacity of offshore wind power generation from its current level of about 60 gigawatts (GW) to 380 GW by 2030.
At COP27, nine other countries, including the US, the UK, Japan, and Germany, joined the alliance.
Joint Work Programme of UNFCCC Technology Mechanism Launched at COP27
The first joint work programme of the Technology Mechanism for 2023–2027 was introduced during COP27, by the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) and the Technology Executive Committee (TEC), the two bodies of the Technology Mechanism under the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement.
- It is a 5-year joint work programme to accelerate the implementation of innovative climate solutions that are urgently needed in developing nations to address climate change.
It will focus on “high-potential sectors and high-potential actions” in water, energy, food, industry, and other systems.
Union Environment Minister participates in “Climate Smart Urban Development” Discussion
On the sidelines of COP27 in Egypt, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, MoEFCC, took part in a discussion on “Climate Smart Urban Development: An Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) for Enhancing Climate Resilience in India.” The event witnessed the release of two reports:
- “An integrated approach for urban wetland restoration – A case study of Sembakkam Lake, Chennai, Tamil Nadu”
- “Greenprint for Chennai – Integrating natural infrastructure for city planning”
The report was prepared by The Nature Conservancy (TNC), a US-based environmental advocacy organisation. TNC has been present in India since 2017.
COP27: GE & IRENA Sign Collaborative Agreement to Tackle Global Climate Crisis
General Electric (GE), a multinational conglomerate based in the United States, has signed a framework agreement with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) to collaborate on a plan to combat climate change and provide energy security.
- They have pledged to collaborate in key areas, such as decarbonization, thought leadership, and the adoption and sustainable use of all types of renewable energy.
The agreement was signed during the COP27 in Egypt by Francesco La Camera, Director-General of IRENA, and Roger Martella, Chief Sustainability Officer of GE.
Oil & Gas Emissions 3 Times Higher Than Figures Being Reported: COP27 Data
At the COP27 in Egypt, the Climate TRACE coalition unveiled the most detailed facility-level global inventory of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to date, which included emissions data for 72,612 different sources globally.
- The data show that emissions from oil and gas production worldwide are severely underreported and are projected to be 3 times higher.
Note: According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), India, which is not a signatory to the Global Methane Pledge, is one of the top five methane emitters in the world.
COP27: LeadIT Summit 2022 Hosted by India & Sweden
India and Sweden hosted the “LeadIT Summit”, on the margins of COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
- The Leadership for Industry Transition (LeadIT) initiative focuses on the low-carbon transition of the hard-to-abate industrial sector.
Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT)
i.LeadIT brings together countries and businesses that are committed to implementing the Paris Agreement.
ii.It was introduced by the governments of Sweden and India at the UN Climate Action Summit in September 2019 and is backed by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
COP27: WEF Launches Toolbox of Solutions for Urban Decarbonization
The Toolbox of Solutions for Urban Decarbonization was introduced at COP27 by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in collaboration with four prominent organizations.
- The four organizations are the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), the Basel Agency for Sustainable Energy (BASE), and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).
It is projected that 68% of people will live in cities by 2050, resulting in increased energy consumption and infrastructure demand, as well as increased carbon emissions.
COP 27: UAE & Egypt Agree to Build One of World’s Biggest Wind Farms
An agreement was reached between the UAE’s renewable energy firm Masdar and its joint venture with Egypt’s major renewable energy developer, Infinity, and Hassan Allam Utilities.
- The agreement deals with the development of one of the world’s largest onshore wind projects in Egypt.
Upon completion, the wind farm will be part of Egypt’s Green Corridor initiative, a grid dedicated to renewable energy projects that aims to have renewable energy accounting for 42% of Egypt’s energy mix by 2035.
COP27: India Committed to Create Carbon Sink of 2.5-3 Billion Tonnes of CO2 Equivalent by 2030
During the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC) launch, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav, MoEFCC, declared that India has pledged in its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to increase the amount of forest and tree cover by 2030 in order to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5–3 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent.
- There are two possible ways for nations to accomplish their NDC commitments and become carbon neutral: creating the new carbon sink from mangrove afforestation and decreasing emissions from mangrove deforestation.
COP27 Ends with Historic Compensation Fund; Delivers Less On Other Issues
The COP 27 to the UNFCCC in Egypt ended with a historic decision to establish a Loss and Damage (L&D) Fund.
- However, the outcome on other critical topics, such as India’s proposal for the phase-out of all fossil fuels including coal, oil and gas, showed little progress.
The G77 and China (India is a part of this group), the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), and small island states proposed the loss and damage funding mechanism.
- The bloc, which represents over 80% of the world’s population, has demanded that a facility be created at the COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland.
Click here to read about Loss & Damage initiative
About the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC):
i.The UNFCCC came into force on March 21, 1994. The 198 countries that have ratified the Convention are known as Parties to the Convention.
ii.The UNFCCC is a “Rio Convention,” one of two presented for signature at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.
- The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) are sister conventions to the Rio Convention.
