By Dominique Simone R. Saraspi

The Philippine government pledged to support Egypt in its efforts to fortify and regenerate international consensus on the climate crisis during the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which was held in Sharm el-Sheikh City, from November 6-18.

Here is the continuation of the second half of the event with the Week 2 Recap. 

Day 7 (November 12)

Entitled Adaptation & Agriculture Day, the day’s discussions featured the official launch of Climate Responses for Sustaining Peace and COP27 Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation Initiative, which aims to increase climate finance contributions for agriculture and food systems targeting the most vulnerable countries.

Meanwhile, protesters led by a coalition of environmentalists, women, indigenous, youth, and trade union organizations dominated the roads and pathways between the pavilions at COP27.

Chadian environmentalist and Sustainable Development Goals Advocate Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim stated that her people are dying due to floods and droughts, while some Pacific indigenous communities are losing their homelands, adding that the 1.5 degrees-Celsius global warming limit “is not negotiable”.

Renowned Nigerian activities Nnimmo Basse asserted that the COP27 was “lost and damaged” for permitting major polluters to participate, demanding the world leaders to “pay climate debt”.

However, United States of America Special Envoy for Climate Action John Kerry stated in a press conference that the country is “totally supportive” of the call for addressing loss and damage, stressing that President Joe Biden is also in favor of the move.

Day 8 (November 14)

Gender Day aimed to provide a platform for women to discuss existing challenges, share success stories from around the world, and shed light on the role of women in adapting to climate change, to increase awareness and promote gender-sensitive and responsive policies, strategies, and actions.

At the same time, Water Day covered all issues and concerns regarding sustainable water resource management, which comprises the different subjects of water scarcity, drought, cross-boundary cooperation, and the improvement of early warning systems.

The day commenced with the inauguration of the Action for Water Adaptation and Resilience initiative in partnership with the World Meteorological Organization.

In an informal update, COP27 President Sameh Shoukry stated that “there is still a lot of work ahead” and that parties “need more time” to tackle issues about mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, gender, and agriculture.

Egyptian Ambassador Wael Aboulgmagd, Special Representative for the COP27, reiterated that the COP27 Presidency is confident that the negotiations would wrap up on November 18, Friday.

Meanwhile, Filipino environmental advocates and youth groups expressed impatience with the COP27 Sharm el-Sheikh Climate Change conference, stating that there are no real negotiations taking place.

However, while the COP27 gathered the global community to accentuate the need for climate action, groups in the Philippines stated that such conference will only be a “big public relations move”.

Day 9 (November 15)

As the Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) and Civil Society Day, this was dedicated to engaging in Civil Society and ensuring that the participants’ perspectives and views are consolidated in a meaningful manner and that they will be given a platform for sharing best practices and identifying challenges to exhibit the role and contribution of society in different forms of climate action and policy response.

On this day, representatives of Philippine civil society and social movements at COP27 displayed their disappointment over the “status and conduct” of the government’s delegation in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

According to civil society groups participating in Egypt, the lack of strong in-person leadership in Egypt “makes the Philippine position look weak”, saying that this would impact the country’s capacity to deliver a strong statement on crucial climate affairs.

Day 10 (November 16)

Named Biodiversity Day, the day highlighted nature and ecosystem-based solutions, as well as discussions on the impacts of climate change on biodiversity and the means to mobilize the global actions targeting issues and challenges, aiming to put an end to and reduce biodiversity loss and impacts of climate change and pollution.

Also tagged as Energy Day, the day dealt with all aspects of energy and climate change, and energy efficiency, as well as challenges and opportunities for the impartial energy transition. 

At COP27, activists and protesters are demanding a “Paris Agreement for nature” to decrease and suppress land deterioration and biodiversity loss, asking for a global biodiversity framework that would include conservation targets and progress reports, similar to the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

Meanwhile, the Egyptian COP27 Presidency reported that several delegations are “holding back” a number of negotiation rooms.

According to UN News, Ruanna Hayes, a negotiator from the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), confirmed that the discussions are not especially hopeful at the moment, saying that “things are still not coming together”.

Day 11 (November 17)

Solution Day—the last of the thematic days—emphasized the possible solutions for resolving climate change issues and challenges, specifically solutions emanating from private sectors and start-ups, aiming to successfully share experiences, discuss challenges, and establish future alliances and collaborations.

The UN climate agency published the first draft of an agreement from the COP27 climate summit, repeating several of last year’s goals while leaving contentious issues in the talks still to be resolved.

The draft did not include details for launching a “loss and damage” fund, which is the key demand from most climate-vulnerable countries.

Day 12 (November 18)

On this day, the UN climate agency published the first official draft of the final summit deal, aiming for a global agreement that advances towards fighting climate change—from funding to guarantees that countries’ fast action to eradicate planet-heating emissions.

The draft left a placeholder for “loss and damage” while other aspects of the document reiterated commitments from last year’s climate summit, such as the 2015 Paris Agreement’s goals of limiting the increase in global temperatures to two degrees Celsius, while aiming for 1.5 degrees Celsius, and the pledge to “phase down” the use of coal-fueled power.

Meanwhile, Philstar.com reported that energy advocates denounced the pronouncements of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. regarding the energy plans of the country and the participation of the Philippine delegation to the COP27 climate summit as they “need to phase out all fossil fuels” to align with the global warming limit to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Although Marcos Jr. stated that increasing the use of renewable energy sources is the priority of the government’s climate agenda, he is also pushing for nuclear and fossil gas, which are considered energy sources that hinder the transition to a low-carbon economy and endanger host communities.

Thumbnail from Reuters