How politics is made of climate....
According to the special representative of the President of the Russian Federation Ruslan Edelgeriev, the negotiation process at the world climate summit has been politicized, but "the Russian delegation is serious," is focused on working on the final documents and is not distracted by provocations, according to The Moscow Post.
Egypt hosts the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) from November 6 to 18. Delegations from more than 190 countries gathered in Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss how to deal with climate change and the impact of these changes. Egypt, as a host, has launched the Sharm el-Sheikh Adaptation Program for state and non-state actors, countries, regions and cities.
A year ago, the COP26 conference was held in Glasgow. After that, the world experienced a year of unusual weather conditions, from droughts to heat waves and floods. Developed countries by 2020 promised to allocate $100 billion annually for climate financing. It did not work, although this is not so much when compared with trillions of "helicopter dollars" poured on the leaders of the "golden billion" to recover from COVID-19.
Coalition of "dissenters"
Sharm el-Sheikh never said how the earlier promises would be fulfilled. The West preferred the conflict with Russia to the task of improving the climate. For many years, Germany and France have ignored the possibility of a peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbass within the framework of the Normandy format and the Minsk talks. Washington and the NATO alliance flatly refused to discuss the prospects for European security on the basis of Moscow's proposals of December 2021.
Taking into account the scale of military and economic assistance from the West to the Kyiv regime, the special military operation of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine has grown into a quasi-confrontation between NATO and Russia. It goes on the territory of the former Soviet republic. The US Democratic Party is considering legislation to allocate another $50 billion to support Ukraine in 2023. This year, Kyiv received $66 billion from the United States.
The European Union lagged behind, but funds aimed at military support for the neo-Nazi regime also amounted to many billions of euros. Only within the current year, the EU's costs of overcoming the energy crisis caused by sanctions may exceed a trillion dollars. The EU climate plans against this background and in the new conditions of the gas diet somehow "deflated," even in some places switch to coal.
The new challenge for COP27 is to attract industrialized countries to finance the economic losses that climate shocks are causing to underdeveloped and vulnerable countries. The topic of "loss and damage" from climate change was first included in the official agenda of the conference.
At last year's COP26 in Glasgow, a coalition of developing countries was already proposing to include in the final statement a text calling on the parties to create a mechanism that would provide financial support to eliminate losses and damage. But developed countries, including the United States, the EU and Japan, did not accept the proposal.
Man-made disasters
Ruslan Edelgeriev said that following the summit, documents on financing losses and damage could be adopted. "I expect that after all, documents on the mechanisms and sources of financing of losses and damage will be adopted. It's a fair approach. It was not possible to hold this initiative at other sites, now it is laid down in the main part of the program due to the fact that the conference is being held in Africa, "Edelgeriev said in an interview with TASS.
But that so all will also be, nobody can give guarantees.
The research conducted by request of the Vulnerable 20 group consisting from more than 50 countries showed that for the last twenty years the most subject to climatic adversities of the state lost because of jumps of temperature and the mode of precipitation of 525 billion dollars, or 22% of the annual GDP (in the prices of 2019). From all losses of 44% it was the share of Bangladesh, Philippines and Vietnam.
In the current year accident happened in Pakistan. Flooded a third of the territory, nearly 1700 people died, 33 million people remained homeless. More than 1.7 million houses were ruined, washed away about 7 thousand kilometers of roads and 250 bridges. The damage exceeded 30 billion dollars.
The prime minister of Pakistan Shekhbaz Sharif called it "manmade disaster" and said that the country fell "a victim of what I had no relation to". By calculations, from the saved-up volume of emissions of carbon dioxide (1751-2017) 25% of all issue of CO2, on EU countries and Great Britain - 22% of emissions fell to the share of the USA.
"Large issuers have to take measures for creation of an official funding mechanism for losses", - the minister of climate of Pakistan Sherry Rehman said in an interview to Nikkei before a meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh. Pakistan waits for compensation for "losses and damage". So far to Islamabad promised 600 million dollars of humanitarian aid, including 350 million dollars from the World Bank, to 160 million dollars through the UN, 58 million dollars from the People's Republic of China and 50 million dollars from the USA.
In September, 2022 John Kerry, the special representative of the U.S. President concerning climate, said, acting on a Week of climate in New York that doesn't feel "guilty" for climate change. On a question of whether the U. S. Congress will vote for compensations of losses and damage, he told: "Good luck. I am in a reality zone".
"Single" engine of Europe
The states of the European Union during negotiations of the UN on climate conduct negotiations as uniform group. The EU applies for the leading role in formation of the global agenda on climate. But Europe is suspected of hypocrisy. Brussels urges others to do more for reduction of emissions then as the European Union evades from the assumed obligations.
In particular, as well as Washington, Brussels doesn't fulfill obligations for financing of the international part of climatic initiatives. By estimates of the Basque center for climate change in Spain, the annual financing necessary for elimination of "climatic losses" and damage in the poor countries, can make not less than 290 billion dollars in 2030 and will grow to about 1 trillion dollars by 2050.
Brussels before a conference in Egypt didn't begin to publish climatic obligations for 2030 as it was announced at COP26 meeting. The EU stated that it will make it after completion of negotiations on reform of the domestic legislation of "Fit for 55". In particular, in the conditions of an energy crisis the chancellor Olaf Sholts was one of the most ardent supporters of exceptions in relation to investments into projects of extraction of fossil fuel. The European and German ecologists criticized these deviations from "the party line", but Germany didn't change the position.
At the French-German business conference which took place on November 8 the representatives of industrial groups of two countries discussed the prospects of cooperation in fight against climate change and the European "power sovereignty", - the head of Chamber of commerce of Germany Martin Vansleben said.
Two largest members of the EU intend to become "the engine of Europe" again. Whether but everything is so simple and transparent in policy of Germany, France and also the European Union? As show events of the last months, the movement of these players to "power sovereignty" destroys the developed interrelations in the field of supply of power raw materials, causes logistic tension and increase in prices in the world energy markets.
Europe spent the most part of 2022, avaricious oil and gas worldwide, trying to replace deliveries from Russia. It led to increase in prices and left the poor countries with anything. Thus, the European Union gave a reason for charges of climatic hypocrisy.
"The EU has to show that the energy crisis didn't misguide it" — Suzy Dennison, the senior research associate of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) considers. "It is necessary to show commitment, especially from large member states that they are ready to assume blow to move ahead. Without it it is useless to induce others to realization of the climatic purposes" — she told in an interview of Clean Energy Wire.
The climatic enthusiasm of Europeans evaporates, and Brussels inclines to "power egoism" more and more! It doesn't mean that EU member states refused the plans of decarbonization, Dennison says, but "it feeds doubts in realness of plans and speed of their realization". It influences negotiations on key elements of strategy of "The European green course", but can leave a mark and on negotiations at the global level.
Promise, not married yet
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change revealed a "list of unfulfilled climate promises" by governments and corporations. "The window of opportunity remains open, but only a narrow beam of light remains," he said, speaking at the summit and calling the current decade "crucial." Guterres unveiled a five-year "Early Warning for All" action plan. This plan provides for a targeted investment of $3.1 billion to organize a disaster alert.
The head of the Russian delegation to the COP27, Ruslan Edelgeriev, called the forecasts of the British edition of the Daily Star about the death of mankind by 2050 "horror stories" and stressed that the world community is not inactive. "Of course, if we don't take action, nothing good awaits us," he said, and added that the media was too dramatic about the climate change situation.
The Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation also noted positive shifts in the understanding of climatic changes in Russia and stressed that the state should fight them, not citizens. He added that the climate summit talks are politicised, but... " we concentrate on specific texts, on final statements, so that there is no discrimination in them, so that there are no intersperses that are inconvenient for Russia, "Edelgeriev assured.
A Climate of Two Ends
Europe's mild winter forecast gives Germany hope of surviving the winter using gas stored in storage facilities. By the beginning of November, the gas storage facilities of Germany were about 99% full. The French weather service also gave a "soft" forecast for the winter.
"The consumption of thermal energy in Germany is determined by the external temperature," say German forecast authors and public utilities. Almost half of German homes are heated by natural gas. A mild winter can help save at least 20% fuel. But the ZEW institute warned against complacency, warning that the scenario could also become a crisis. Saving remains a prerequisite, said the head of the institute, Ahim Wambach. In the event of a shortage of gas, the state will have to ration its consumption.
The Germans do not know how this will look in practice, Germany has no experience of living in winter in conditions of economy, especially gas shortages. But for sure it will appear, maybe not this winter, so next. That is why it is global warming, there is no year for a year!
Читать на "The Moscow Post"