Egypt warns UK not to withdraw from climate commitment before COP27

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The UK has been warned by Egypt, host of the next UN climate summit (COP27), against “backtracking from the global climate agenda”, in a significant intervention prompted by fears over Liz Truss’s commitment to net zero. This unusual occurrence comes in light of fears of a sudden change from Britain not fulfilling its commitment to combating climate change after reports stated that King Charles III has been forbidden by the UK prime minister from attending the UNFCCC (The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) event. 

Boris Johnson, the previous UK PM, was regarded as working effectively towards the shared goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. However, new PM Liz Truss has been exhibiting signs showing otherwise. Although she expressed her support for the net zero target, she has been offering more than 100 new licenses for oil and gas in the North Sea region, in addition to canceling environmental regulations meant to protect nature and lifting the ban on fracking (the fracturing of rocks for oil).

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) expressed its concerns about the UK government’s policies regarding the legally-binding commitment to Net-Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The CCC report noted “major policy failures” and “scant evidence of delivery.” The UK is failing to enact the policies needed to reach the UK’s net-zero targets said its constitutional advisers in a written progress report delivered to parliament.

John Gummer, the chair of the CCC and a former Conservative environment secretary, said that “the government has willed the ends, but not the means,” adding that “this report showed that present plans will not fulfill the commitments [to net zero].” In other words, the chair said that the UK government had set firm targets calling for the cutting of emissions but the policy implemented to achieve them was nowhere to be found.

A COP27 spokesperson said: “The COP president designate is disappointed by these reports [of Charles’s non-attendance at COP27]. The Egyptian presidency of the climate conference acknowledges the longstanding and strong commitment of His Majesty to the climate cause and believes that his presence would have been of great added value to the visibility of climate action at this critical moment. We hope that this doesn’t indicate that the UK is backtracking from the global climate agenda after presiding over COP26.” But the spokesperson stressed that PM Truss was still invited as her position as head of the UK government.

In response, a representative for the UK government commented: “We have a proud record when it comes to COP, [and] we are forging ahead with our plans for net zero. 40% of our power now comes from clean energy sources and we will continue to deliver on those promises.” What may prove these claims false is if the potential passing of a bill that the British parliament is working on, since it would hold the possibility of revoking 570 environmental laws from the national legislation system.

Ahead of COP27, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres raised the alarm for poor countries that have been taking the brunt of catastrophic effects due to extreme weather caused by human-made climate change. Loss and damage, a phrase describing the impacts beyond adaptation, will potentially be one of the biggest areas of disagreement at the event due to take place in November. However, for the first time in the history of the United Nations, an affluent member state has committed to paying compensation for the effects of emissions in the developing world. Denmark will allocate around $13 million to vulnerable nations that have experienced "loss and damage" due to climate change.

Guterres said: “COP27 must be the place for action on loss and damage. This is the number one litmus test of how seriously both developed and developing governments take the growing climate toll on the most vulnerable countries.”

Guterres called on the World Bank and other development banks to “raise their game”, as the World Bank has been perceived to fail in addressing climate finance.