Sunday (6 Nov) marked the start of the 27th Conference of the Parties, the UN summit known as COP27, which brings together over 190 countries to negotiate international action on climate change. As governments, charities, think tanks, businesses and advocacy groups gather in Egypt over the next two weeks, discussions will resume on a number of outstanding issues, particularly those not fully resolved at COP26 in Glasgow last year.
There is a full agenda for the conference to cover – the details of which have already proven contentious. Based on research undertaken by IDS and our partners, below are some key areas relating to climate change that must be addressed at COP27 for the conference to generate lasting positive change.
The need for climate justice
With climate justice receiving such little airtime in Glasgow, it’s crucial that issues of justice are put front and centre of negotiations this time around. Relationships between rich and poor nations have been deeply shaped by colonialism, injustice and extraction, as laid out in this IDS Bulletin article ‘Recognising Recognition in Climate Justice’. The legacy of these stories continues today in many arenas of trade, economy and development, and climate change is no exception.
Beyond broad statements, substantial issues of justice, equity, and the historical roots of unevenly distributed climate damage were missing from the high-level dialogues at COP26. As argued by IDS Research Fellows following the conference in Glasgow, many saw the UK’s presidency as a missed opportunity, which fell short on ambition and resulted in disappointing outcomes. Structural issues relating to climate justice, such as loss and damage and inclusive decision-making, were left either un- or under addressed, and there was a distinct lack of progress on climate finance to support lower-income countries to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.
Climate finance
Climate finance is likely to take centre stage at COP27 and is a crucial and contested issue for lower income nations, as they struggle to face growing climate damage. Carbon taxes have often dominated discussions on revenue raising for climate action, yet research from the IDS Co-hosted International Centre on Tax and Development shows these are not the green bullet western commentary often implies, particularly in places such as Sub-Saharan Africa, responsible for just 3.8% of global emissions.
In 2009 richer nations pledged that by 2020 they would transfer $100billion per year to vulnerable states being increasingly hit by climate disasters. Delivery of the full amount was missed in 2020 and 2021, and G7 leaders reneged again on this commitment in 2022. COP27 is a key moment for richer nations to agree on their contributions to this commitment going forward, whilst prioritising finance for climate adaptation and programmes that are locally led, and equity focused.
On climate finance at COP27, IDS Research Fellow, Dr Nausheen Anwar said:
“We need more concrete discussions on how climate financing can be scaled down in effective ways at the city scale across private and public sectors, to support risk mitigation, risk management and equitable urban planning.”
Loss and damage
The most recent IPCC sixth assessment report, published this April, documented the devastating changes to the climate more clearly than ever before. In several parts of the world, local communities are already experiencing irreparable and irreversible harm from climate change – through extreme and slow onset events – in the form of loss of lives, livelihoods, habitats, culture and biodiversity. Research from the IDS-led ANTICPATE project documents the experiences of farmers in Gujarat who are all but unable to grow crops as they deal with the impact of intense drought followed by flash floods.
COP27 must focus on finance for loss and damage, recognising that there are also limits to adaptation, which in some of the most climate vulnerable parts of the world have already been passed.
On loss and damage negotiations in Egypt, IDS Research Fellow, Dr Lars Otto Naess said:
“Loss and damage will be the overriding priority from a climate justice perspective, and a ‘litmus test’ for progress at COP27. Failure to make significant advances on this will be failing the poorest and most vulnerable people on the planet. ”
Adaptation from ‘below’
Many ‘climate solutions’ continue to be imposed from above, guided by the rich world’s interests – and designed without the participation of poor and marginalised populations. This risks creating ‘maladaptations’ that cause further harm to the vulnerable communities who are suffering the worst effects of climate change and have done the least to cause it. Supporting local knowledge and ideas can help to avoid such mistakes, account for uncertainties, and allow more flexible, adaptive and long-term plans to emerge. The IDS-hosted TAPESTRY project is working on locally led adaptation through co-producing new ideas with those on the front line, paying attention to their evidence and experience alongside more technical or scientific data.
Reforming the COP process
National level priorities and high-level policy processes such as COP can also exacerbate inequities and vulnerabilities within countries. IDS research with pastoralists in the PASTRES project analyses how northern environmentalist discourses on dietary change and the push towards plant-based diets, based on (valid) concerns about the impacts of industrial meat production on emissions mean that millions of people worldwide who depend on extensive livestock production, with relatively lower climate impacts, are being ignored by debates on the future of food.
Initiatives such as the Sahelian ‘Great Green Wall’ and the AFR100 (African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative) commit to planting hundreds of millions of hectares of trees in Africa over the coming decade. However, IDS research with pastoralists shows that large-scale ‘top down’ projects such as mass tree planting can severely damage people’s livelihoods, pushing pastoralists and their animals away from the land they depend on for grazing.
Discussions at COP27 must prioritise listening to local voices, strengthening rights over land and water and ensuring accountability on financing for action on climate damage caused by rich, high-polluting nations. A large body of IDS research shows that we need to move away from ‘top-down’ and large scale ‘solutions’, to ‘bottom-up’, democratic and context-driven policy making processes that involves the full participation and recognition of people who have been historically marginalised, and are facing the brunt of climate change induced damages now.
A forthcoming IDS bulletin ‘Reframing Climate and Environmental Justice’ explores climate justice in diverse international contexts. The first four articles can be accessed online now.
