COP27 | A summit that promises to be perilous

At the end of a year marked by climate disasters, as the world is on track to miss the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C, COP27 opens on Sunday in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt .

Jean-Thomas Léveillé
The Press

“Climate justice”

It will notably be a question of money, in Sharm el-Sheikh. Developing countries, which are more vulnerable to the consequences of climate change to which they have contributed little, are calling for it to deal with the crisis. “The main theme of COP27 is really climate justice,” explains former PQ member Sylvain Gaudreault, who will be on site as a representative of the Center québécois du droit de l’environnement and the Fonds Solidarité Sud. a Quebec non-governmental organization. “There will be debates on the commitment of the countries of the North, industrialized, the richest”, predicts the one who will be at his sixth COP.

“Loss and Damage”

One of the issues concerns the “loss and damage” caused by climate change. An agreement is sought so that the countries of the North pay for the reparation of the consequences of the climate crisis in the countries of the South, in particular after a natural disaster, illustrates Sylvain Gaudreault. “There is a lot of reluctance from the countries of the North to embark on this,” he says. Another issue concerns financing the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in developing countries and their adaptation to climate change. The industrialized countries have promised 100 billion US per year until 2025 and the post-2025 remains to be determined.

Natural disasters in the background

Droughts and heat waves in Europe and China, floods in Pakistan and the United States, hurricane in the Magdalen Islands; the shadow of the many natural disasters in 2022 will weigh on the discussions, believes the Canadian Ambassador for Climate Change, Catherine Stewart. “Countries are under a lot of pressure to increase their ambitions, to demonstrate that they are doing something”, she believes, acknowledging however that “it will be difficult”. Only 23 countries out of 193 submitted their enhanced commitment plans before COP27, the United Nations lamented a few days ago. “There are many countries that need to do more. Yes, it’s discouraging, ”drops Catherine Stewart, also a regular at COPs.

“Challenges” for Canada

Canada also has a lot to do, as it has the highest per capita GHG emissions in the Group of the 20 largest economies on the planet (G20) and is the only country in the Group of 7 (G7) whose emissions of GHGs have increased since the Paris agreement. Ottawa has pledged to end fossil fuel subsidies by the end of 2022, but it was still 2021 as of the 2^e rank of the G20 countries that subsidize the most this sector, at 8.5 billion dollars per year on average, according to a report by the organization Oil Change International published a few days ago. “Of course, there are challenges,” admits Catherine Stewart. “We want to talk about our progress, but also about our challenges,” which can be useful for other countries, she says.

An opportunity for Quebec

Quebec could show “leadership” at COP27 by committing to the issue of “loss and damage”, hopes Sylvain Gaudreault. “Last year, Scotland broke the taboo by making a commitment to pay £1 million”, a first, and Wallonia followed suit, he says, stressing that it is there of two sub-national states like Quebec. The province could also catch up in terms of just transition, to help workers “who will be affected by the ecological transition”, particularly in the field of aluminum and transport, believes Sylvain Gaudreault. “Quebec must be at the forefront, and it is not,” he decides.

Trudeau and Legault absent

More than 120 heads of state and government are expected in Sharm el-Sheikh, including US Presidents Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as the new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who did an about-face after initially announced that he would not be going there. Justin Trudeau and François Legault will not be there, however. The Canadian delegation will be led by Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault. Also present will be the Quebec Ministers of the Environment and the Fight Against Climate Change, of Wildlife and Parks, Benoit Charette, and of the Economy, Innovation and Energy, Pierre Fitzgibbon.