UN publishes draft of COP 27 climate deal

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt: United Nations climate agency has published the draft agreement of the 27th Conference of Parties (COP 27) climate summit held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

The document has been given the title of ‘non-paper’, as it is not the final version of the summit document. The draft document reiterates the goals outlined during COP26 held in Glasgow, UK.

Last year’s climate deal asked countries “to accelerate measures towards the phase down of unabated coal power and phase out and rationalize inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.” However, this year’s draft document does not mention phasing out all fossil fuels as per the request of India and the European Union.

The draft climate document also doesn’t talk about launching a fund for loss and damage demanded by most climate-vulnerable countries, including the island nations. However, the parties have agreed to make funding arrangements to respond to loss and damage, and the same has been included in the draft. But no timeline has been prescribed for deciding whether a separate fund should be created at all and what it should look like.

The document was prepared with due consideration to the request of delegates from around 200 countries, and it will serve as a base for negotiation over the next few days, after which the final document will be published.