LWVUS Urged COP27 Heads of Delegations to Raise Climate Concerns

The coalition, led by Climate Action Network, urged COP27 Heads of Delegation to show political leadership in this climate emergency. Further, the coalition urged governments to cooperate and act in solidarity for the people suffering from climate and interconnected crises to ensure that COP27 urgently raises ambition and provides scaled-up finance for implementation in line with equity and fair shares to ensure a climate-safe world for all. 

Background: To  ensure successful outcomes in Sharm el-Sheikh, the incoming COP 27 Presidency is convening an informal Heads of Delegation meeting from 13-15 October 2022 in Egypt focusing on Mitigation and Finance. 

We as, Climate Action Network and allies, ask for political leadership in this climate emergency to deliver urgent mitigation ambition and climate finance. This means a rapid and equitable phase out of all fossil fuels, drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions by the end of this decade to stay below 1.5C, and implementing policies and shifting finance towards a just and sustainable transition for a climate-safe future.    

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To the Attention of Heads of Delegations negotiating on behalf of their governments and constituted groups,

Time is up. The IPCC 6th Assessment Reports have shown that the window of opportunity to stay within the temperature target of 1.5°C is rapidly closing with disastrous effects.

At the recent UNGA, the Secretary General identified the root cause of the climate crisis as our addiction to fossil fuels. This must stop immediately. The windfall profits of fossil fuel companies, who are profiting off the people, must be redirected to address loss and damage and to alleviate the suffering of people facing compounding food and energy crises. The protection of biodiverse and carbon-rich ecosystems like wetlands and tropical forests are crucial for reducing CO2 emissions and storing carbon towards a 1.5°C pathway in line with phasing out fossil fuels.

We remind you, at COP26 the Glasgow Climate Pact expressed alarm and utmost concern that human activities have caused around 1.2°C of global warming to date and stressed the urgency of enhancing ambition and action. The most recent WMO report – United in Science – shows yet again an alarming ambition and implementation gap between Parties’ pledges and what is needed to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement and to secure a climate safe future for all. 

We see climate tipping points being crossed every year and human suffering is mounting. Without urgency of action today, children growing up today will inherit a world where droughts, floods, crop failures and other extreme weather events will become commonplace. In response to the ambition gap and the sense of urgency, COP26 decided to establish a ‘work programme to urgently scale up mitigation ambition and implementation’ (MWP) in this critical decade, and requested its delivery by COP27 complementing the Global Stocktake. The MWP is an opportunity to give countries tools and enhance cooperation to support the implementation and increase ambition of their National Determined Contributions (NDCs).

The tasks on mitigation are:

1. Define and deliver an ambitious, equitable Mitigation Work Programme by COP27 with the  objective to urgently enhance the ambition and implementation of Parties’ efforts to deliver global aggregate emissions reductions, in order to be in line with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.  

• The MWP is complementary to the GST, and must be based on equity and fair shares and the principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC).
• The MWP should create a check-in and accountability process of Parties’ sectoral pledges and commitments. We stress that voluntary sectoral pledges and commitments must be linked to NDCs and Long Term Strategies (LTS) and provide a readily available opportunity to enhance ambition.
• The MWP must follow up on the Glasgow Pact provisions on energy by developing a timeline for the phaseout of all fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas, as well as fossil fuel subsidies with developed countries taking the lead. 
• The MWP must reflect the need that to achieve the Paris goals, all countries will need to cease new oil, gas, and coal exploration and development immediately and set targets for significant reductions in global fossil fuel production and export by 2030, with  wealthy countries moving first and fastest to phase out extraction while  supporting just transition in developing countries.
• The MWP must ensure that countries’ NDC implementation promotes an equitable and just  transition that respects human rights, children’s rights and results in access to clean, reliable and affordable energy for their populations. It must be supported through international cooperation and governance measures.
• Ministerial roundtables should be informed by the technical work of the MWP, allowing a political check-in on strengthening and revisiting NDCs and implementation.
• The role of Non–Party Stakeholders (NPS) towards raising 2030 ambition and implementation should be enhanced, by strengthening the link between their  contributions and efforts by Parties, and by enabling  the contributions of NPSs to the Work Programme through reporting frameworks.

2. Deliver a COP27 decision which reminds Parties successive NDCs should represent a progression, should reflect its highest possible ambition, can be updated at any time, and that Parties should verify that current NDCs are in line with the IPCC’s latest scientific recommendations.

3. COP27 must reaffirm the need to provide adequate, scaled-up finance that is equitable and in line with climate justice. We remind you that finance is an enabling condition of ambitious climate action. Current climate finance does not respond to the urgency of needs and the level of ambition required. According to the most recent Needs Determination Report from the Standing Committee on Finance (SCF), analysis of just 78 countries’ NDCs, they will require at least USD 5.8 trillion cumulatively to reach their individual commitments for adaptation and mitigation by 2030. However, the financial requirements as assessed by SCF report are significantly lower in particular for clean energy than the analysis by IPCC (Working Group 3, 2022) for the same timeframe to meet a 1.5°C trajectory by 2030.  

The forthcoming Heads of Delegation meeting on Mitigation and Finance in Cairo this October,  is a moment to show political leadership in this climate emergency.  Governments must cooperate and act in solidarity for the people suffering from climate and interconnected crises to ensure that COP27 urgently raises ambition and provides scaled up finance for implementation in line with equity and fair shares to ensure a climate safe world for all.

Yours Sincerely,

See Full List of Signatories Attached