Half Success or Half Failure for the COP27: Everyone Will See the Situation As They Wish.
Stop or again for the COPs?
“Women and children first!”
On the deck of the sinking Titanic, legend has it that amidst the passengers rushing to the lifeboats, the orchestra continued to play.
This is the scene of the Conferences of the Parties (COP), which since 1995 have brought together the leaders of some 200 countries to resolve the climate crisis. All around them, the world is burning, but despite the headwinds, the show must go on. COP 27, which ended on Sunday 20 November 2022, is no exception.
Progress was indeed made, especially on aid to poor countries affected by climate change, but disillusionment prevails in the face of the failure to set new ambitions for the reduction of greenhouse gases.
The refrain comes back: should we put an end to the COPs?
Nearly thirty years of negotiations, discussions, and procrastination, for what results?
The objective of warming of less than 2°C set out in the Paris Agreement of 2015 is already “no longer a credible scenario,” according to the UN. Worse, in its annual assessment, the organization estimates that the commitments made by states would result in “a 66% chance of limiting warming to about 2.6°C by the end of the century.”
Faced with the stakes, the COPs rarely seem up to the task. “All this for this,” we sigh too often when we see the poor results obtained. Several obstacles stand in the way of an ambitious agreement: the final declaration is only made by consensus of all the parties, which necessarily leads to the delivery of a text on the cheap; national interests too often take precedence over global needs, and the increasingly massive presence of lobbies that take advantage of these events to engage in greenwashing has a devastating effect on opinion.
Hence the impression that, from one COP to the next, the same subjects come back on the table, with minor successes and minor advances. However, let's try not to throw everything away at once. We do not burn down the UN because there are still wars worldwide.
The COPs exist to provide a framework for negotiation, but their effectiveness depends on the will of States. This is the merit and the limit of these summits. The horizon they provide is to learn to walk in the same direction, in polished choreography, to preserve a livable world.
The challenge is immense, but it is not - yet - too late. Every minute counts.
Some reading
At the End of the COP27, a Truth Appears in Broad Daylight: The Climate Is the Poor Relation of Geopolitics. Until the war in Ukraine is over and America and China find a modus vivendi, the climate will not return to the forefront of geopolitical concerns.
8 Key Moments to Remember on the Sidelines of the COP27 Negotiations. #1: The thaw between America and China.
AC or DC? How Nikola Tesla Enabled George Westinghouse to Win the War of Electric Currents Against Thomas Edison. Westinghouse won the no-holds-barred battle to electrify America.
CZ Spreads Rumors About Coinbase’s BTC Reserves — Brian Armstrong Destroys the FUD by Reminding People That His Company Is Public. Rather than spreading FUD amid the storm, CZ would do better to help restore confidence.