05/12/2022
FIIAPP's participation in COP27 through the EUROCLIMA Programme has focused on Loss and Damage and Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE)
The balance of FIIAPP’s participation in COP27, through the EUROCLIMA Programme, highlights the support of the central agreements reached in Sharm-El-Sheikh in areas such as compensation for loss and damages caused by climate change and Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE), as well as the strengthening of relations with the Programme’s partner countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region.
The FIIAPP team at EUROCLIMA organised a total of 15 events, led two thematic days and took an active part in 5 events organised in the pavilions of Spain, Panama and Colombia. Likewise, in the context of the country dialogues held by the Programme, a dozen bilateral meetings have been held with partner countries such as Chile, Cuba, Guatemala and Costa Rica, which have contributed to reinforcing the accompaniment of these countries in the fulfilment of their climate commitments.
The agreement reached in Sharm El-Sheikh for the creation of a specific financing fund to address the “loss and damage” resulting from the effects of climate change in the most vulnerable countries, provides a new tool that socialises the adverse impacts and sends a clear message on climate justice.
In this line, EUROCLIMA has been working throughout 2022 with its partner countries on the quantification and monitoring of losses and damages, efforts that have been collected in two documents that have been presented during COP27: “Implementation of a mechanism for the assessment of damages and losses attributed to climate events: the case of Uruguay” and “State of the art on losses and damages from climate impact in Latin America and the Caribbean”.
Furthermore, the approval of the first Action Plan for the Glasgow Programme on Action for Climate Empowerment – with the mandate to promote the development of Article 6 of the UNFCCC, transposed into Article 12 of the Paris Agreement – supports the accompaniment that FIIAPP is providing to the EUROCLIMA partner countries in the development of the ACE agenda in the Region. During COP27, FIIAPP has coordinated the thematic day dedicated to ACE in the EUROCLIMA pavilion, and has also participated in two events in the pavilions of Spain and Panama. In these meetings, among other issues, the ACE National Strategies that are being developed in six countries of the Region, and which have the support of the programme through FIIAPP, were presented.
Although the agreement reached to create the damage and loss fund has been described as historic by the COP27 organisers, the Sharm El-Sheikh summit left notable issues pending, such as the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies and insufficient funding for climate change adaptation measures. Furthermore, while maintaining the commitment to not exceed 1.5ºC warming, according to the latest recorded data, it has avoided more ambitious measures to reduce emissions, which leaves the planet on track for a 2.5ºC increase.
Elsa Velasco, EUROCLIMA coordinator at FIIAPP, also underlines the pending work on the materialisation of the damage and loss fund: “It is one of the most valuable achievements of the summit, as it responds to a request that has been raised for the last three decades. However, there are still many questions to be answered; it is now a matter of determining which nations should contribute and which will be recipients. The idea is that during the coming year these points will be defined and the form of this compensation can then be finalised.
During the development of COP27, EUROCLIMA has strengthened its position in other areas also highlighted in the agenda of the summit: just transition to a new production system; mainstreaming the gender perspective and vulnerable groups in policies for just transition; development of climate scenarios and biodiversity protection through Nature-Based Solutions.
Regarding the next steps, Cecilia Castillo, Director of Climate Governance for EUROCLIMA at FIIAPP, underlines that “once the commitments of the parties and the priorities of the Latin American and Caribbean climate agenda have been updated, FIIAPP will continue to promote progress in climate policy planning for decarbonisation by 2050, aiming at development results, decoupling economic growth and environmental degradation and taking advantage of the opportunities of the transition to achieve sustainable development for all”.
“On the way forward after COP27,” Castillo adds, “we will continue to accompany our partner countries in their processes of energy transition, urban mobility and sustainable agricultural production, so relevant in the current context of energy crisis and food crisis. We will intensify our support for the conservation, preservation and restoration of biodiversity, addressing the key link between biodiversity and health and promoting Nature-Based Solutions. As a new major challenge to advance climate action, we will focus on circular economy schemes, promoting enabling regulatory frameworks and enhancing the role of civil society to change consumption patterns, which would entail a change in production and marketing patterns”.
