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The year 2022 has been a testament to some harsher and grimmer climate extremes. A once-in-a-500-year drought in Europe, flooding across South Asia ravaging lives and livelihoods, Pakistan and Philippines being the most hit, and extreme heat waves across many parts of the globe are breaching all thresholds.
As the world witnesses the throes of climate extremes, the 27th Conference of Parties (COP 27) begins with an emblematic note that includes a discussion on loss and damage in the main agenda of the conference.
This impedes negotiators who are expected to discuss creating a compensation mechanism for paying out to vulnerable countries that bear the maximum brunt of climate extremes.
As negotiators from more than 200 countries start the deliberation, developing countries like India will continue to seek more clarity on the definition of climate finance and a dedicated financing facility to compensate for loss and damage.
While the committed USD 100 billion remains the target far from reality, it will be tough for the historical emitters to shy away from the loss and damage discussion at Sharm-El-Sheikh and shift the goalpost.
Countries like India will have to take a renewed lead on behalf of developing and Small Island Developing States on ensuring the outcomes are climate-ready systemic, technological, and financial solutions that can insulate lives, livelihoods, infrastructure, and economies across the most vulnerable regions of the world. Ignoring the urgency will only compound the chronic and acute risks the world will face soon as climate change marches on.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has already predicted that the global temperature rise is heading toward 1.5°C.
In contrast, the developing countries will leave no stone unturned to ensure loss and damage are mainstreamed, and in a true sense, this becomes an implementation COP.
Further, transparency and accountability by sub-national and private entities will hold center stage to ensure that net-zero targets by countries are on track.
Geo-politically, this COP is critical, and a few countries, like Denmark, have already pledged USD 13 million to developing countries. More countries are expected to join the league, and the story of the agenda will evolve around the nexus of jobs, growth, and energy security.
As climate-vulnerable countries wish for a mainstream conversation around historical climate injustice, COP 27 should raise the bar and ensure a true sense of the spirit of people and the planet rather than a tug-of-clash between developed and developing needs.
(Abinash Mohanty currently leads the sector on climate change and sustainability at IPE-Global. He is a climate change expert and a reviewer of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s sixth assessment report.
Raghwesh Ranjan leads Social and Economic Empowerment practice. He has over 20 years of experience in implementation and management of sustainable development programmes.)
(This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)
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