COP27 draft omits India's proposal on fossil fuels
New Delhi, November 17
The first informal draft of the climate agreement from the UN summit COP27 in Egypt doesn’t mention phasing down of all fossil fuels, a proposal that was put forward by India and supported by the European Union and several other countries.
Had sought phasing down of all fossil fuels
AdvertisementEditorial: Not coal alone: India’s push for a just climate change order snubbed
Without cumulative emissions in check, success with other environmental challenges, even if they are achieved, won’t carry lasting value. — Bhupender Yadav
Published on Thursday, the 20-page document has only repeated several of the goals from last year’s Glasgow Climate Pact “to accelerate measures towards the ‘phase down’ of unabated coal power and ‘phase out’ and rationalisation of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies”.
The draft also does not include details on launching a fund to address “loss and damage”, a key demand by most climate-vulnerable nations, though it “welcomed” that the topic was taken up as part of this year’s agenda. Developing countries have demanded that the ongoing COP27 conclude with a decision to launch the fund. According to observers at the meeting, the draft “ballooned from two pages to 20” and included a list of options. “It is far from a final version as there are still some hours of hard negotiations to go, including on the equity issue. However, there is no mention of gas and oil or India’s fossil fuel ‘phase down’ language. Wealthy countries are being encouraged (not compelled) to increase support and align funding flows with 1.5°C,” they said. Overall, the document “stresses the importance of exerting all efforts to achieve the Paris Agreement temperature goal of holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels”. India had objected to singling out of any fossil fuel and proposed that the talks end with the decision to “phase down” of all fossil fuels, and not just coal.
AdvertisementDeveloped countries are said to be pushing for the inclusion of language such as “major emitters and top emitters”, which was not acceptable to developing nations, including India. Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said the progress on key issues had not been good due to the “divergence of views on some fundamental approaches to climate issues”.
