Logjam On Key Issues Leads To Extension Of COP27 Global Summit

NEW DELHI: In the COP27 global climate summit underway in Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh city, a deadlock over resolution of key issues has led to its extension by a single day, whose curtains were scheduled to be down by Friday.

These key issues include mitigation of work programme and climate finance among others.

Union Minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change Bhupinder Yadav who is leading the Indian delegation said that the global climate summit was scheduled to be over by November 18 but it was extended as an attempt for ongoing negotiations to close at a logical end.

Sharing the update through a blog post, the Union Minister said that multitude of issues which includes mitigation work program, the global goal on adaptation, loss and damage, and climate finance are under negotiation and they have emerged as largely contentious.

"COP is a party-driven process and hence consensus on key issues is vital to the process. The extension is an attempt towards achieving just that," said Minister Yadav.

It is worthwhile to mention here just as the world is facing the ill effects of climate change, the success of the 27th edition of the Conference of Parties (COP27) of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is stuck on a fund to address 'loss and damage'. It is a collective term used to refer to irreversible destruction meted out by climate change.

It was European Union's Chief Negotiator Frans Timmermans who proposed a plan to tie loss and damage with emission cuts for breaking the deadlock. As per the EU's proposal which is planned to be worked out next year, countries are asked to peak emissions by the year 2025. It is also proposed to cut down usage of all fossil fuels including coal.

Another significant aspect of this proposed fund will be the liability on big developing countries like China to contribute to this fund.

Earlier, the UNFCCC released a formal draft of the deal without mentioning India's appeal for phasing down all fossil fuels. For climate experts, its surprising to note that the call for phasing down all fossil fuels which was widely supported by most of the developing countries and some developed ones like the US and the EU, did not find mention in the draft although it has been COP's second most discussed topic.

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