Climate negotiations are theatre, with their share of stances and reversals of the situation. Representations of a special kind, of which we do not know in advance the number of files or the register. The World Climate Change Conference (COP27), which took place against the backdrop of the seaside resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, was no exception to the rule, ending thirty-seven hours late on Sunday 20 November. after many twists and turns. It ended on a double note: that of the epic and that of the tragic.

When it first recognized the need to provide financial assistance to the most vulnerable countries already suffering the effects of climate change, it has not sufficiently accelerated the fight against climate change in the absence of an agreement on fossil fuels. The COP27 thus began to respond to the symptoms of the crisis, but not to its causes.

The 196 countries marked a historic step forward on the key issue of the conference: they decided to set up a fund for the “Loss and Damage”to provide financial support to developing countries “particularly vulnerable” to deal with the irreversible damage caused by global warming. This critically acclaimed decision is the culmination of a demand that countries in the South have been making for thirty years.

“COP27 has done what no other COP has done”welcomes Mohamed Adow, Executive Director of the NGO Power Shift Africa. “This issue was not even on the agenda at the beginning of the negotiations and today we are making historyhe praises. It shows that the UN process can work and that the world can recognize the plight of vulnerable people. »

“Climate Debt”

At the Red Sea Conference Center, vulnerable countries have consistently hammered this fact home: they are the main victims of drought, floods or hurricanes, even though they are the least contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Impacts that cause human and economic losses, increase their indebtedness and hamper their development.

” It is a vsvicious circle that needs to be broken, the Senegalese Environment Minister Alioune Ndoye pleaded for the least developed countries. More than a question of solidarity, this request for financial support is one “moral obligation” and a “Climate Debt”reminiscent of the small islands, while the developed countries have built their prosperity thanks to fossil fuels – coal, oil, gas – the main causes of global warming.

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