27th Conference of Parties (COP27, beginning November 6, in Egypt)

COP-27 organized in Egypt

• COP27 is going to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt from the 6th of November 2022.

What is a COP?

• The COP is the supreme decision-making body of the Convention. All States that are Parties to the Convention are represented at the COP, at which they review the implementation of the Convention and any other legal instruments that the COP adopts and take decisions necessary to promote the effective implementation of the Convention, including institutional and administrative arrangements.
• COP27 is the 27th edition of the conference being held in Egypt this year.

The central question 

• What does the urgency of climate action imply in a starkly unequal world? 
• This will be at the root of contestations at the upcoming 27th Conference of Parties (COP27, beginning November 6, in Egypt) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Cop26 Glasgow 

• In the COP26, last year in Glasgow, several developed countries declared their intention to reach NetZero emissions by 2050 but these declarations did not square with the requirements of “keeping 1.5°C alive”.
• The truth of the Carbon Emissions –
• Four-fifths of the global carbon budget to limit warming to 1.5°C (with a 50% probability) has already been exhausted. 
• Developed countries are responsible for more than half of these historical CO2 emissions. 
• It has become clear that developed countries may be unlikely to meet even the inadequate targets they have set, keeping to the trend of the last three decades.
• There was also high drama at COP26, with moral grandstanding by many developed country negotiators who invoked the future of their children because India and other countries understandably baulked at the singling out of any one fossil fuel for immediate action.

Global energy inequality 

• Global energy poverty is concentrated in developing countries. 
• In 2021, 733 million people had no access to electricity and almost 2.6 billion people lacked access to clean fuels and technologies. 
• The average per capita energy use of the richest 20 countries is 85 times higher than that of the 20 poorest countries.
• A strong correlation between energy supply and human development in Developing Countries.
• The average annual per-capita electricity consumption of sub-Saharan Africa is 487 kilowatt-hours (kWh), alongside an infant mortality rate of 73 per 1,000 live births; maternal mortality ratio of 534 per 1,00,000 live births, and per capita GDP of $1,645. 
• On the other hand, the OECD group of countries have a per capita electricity consumption of 7,750 kWh, corresponding to an infant mortality rate of seven, a maternal mortality ratio of 18, and a per capita GDP of $42,098.

Increasing inequality 

• 1. COVID – 19
• The reality of global inequality was acutely evident during the COVID­19 pandemic. 
• Several countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America are facing severe agricultural and industrial slowdowns in the post-pandemic period. 
• The lack of reliable energy infrastructure has compounded the difficulties and has multi­dimensional impacts across developmental indicators.
• 2. Soaring Energy & Food Prices
• In 2022, these inequalities have been aggravated by soaring energy and food prices. 
• Several countries face a severe rise in the cost of living and nearly 70 million additional people are estimated to fall below the poverty line of $3.20 per person per day. 
• Almost 90 million people in Asia and Africa, who gained access to electricity recently, cannot afford to pay their energy bills.

 The hypocrisy of global north 

• In the United States, 81% of primary energy is from fossil fuels. In Europe, fossil fuels constitute 76% of energy consumption (coal, oil, and natural gas contribute 11%, 31%, and 34% respectively). 
• Thirty years after acknowledging the problem of anthropogenic global warming and committing to the UNFCCC, to take the lead in climate change mitigation, the level of decarbonisation in the global North has been minuscule. 
• In July 2022, the European Union (EU) voted to classify the use of natural gas for some uses as “green and sustainable”. 
• Natural gas was responsible for 7.5 billion tonnes of CO2 (i.e., 23% of the total CO2 by the major fossil fuels), in 2020. 
• Additionally, in 2022, even coal consumption in the U.S. and the EU is estimated to increase by 3% and 7%, respectively.

Green energy lies 

• These developed countries argue that green energy constitutes a great business opportunity for developing countries as it has become cheaper. 
• They have used this dubious argument to dismiss the differentiation between developed and developing countries and are lobbying for banning the financing of any fossil fuel projects in some of the poorest countries.

A Greater Challenge 

• Bridging the energy deficits in the global South using renewable energy alone is a much more significant challenge compared to what developed countries will face this winter. 
• Spokespersons for urgent climate action across the world must acknowledge this stark reality that the global South has to deal with, whether in times of war or peace.

COP27 - A base camp for equitable priorities 

• COP27 affords a critical moment to acknowledge and address the concerns surrounding energy access and security in developing countries.
• At COP27, the global South must squarely put the question of its energy poverty and the severe global inequalities in energy access at the centre of all discussions. 
• We must achieve zero hunger, zero malnutrition, zero poverty, and universal well­being even as we collectively contribute to ensuring effective climate action. 
• We must work together to ensure that these developmental goals are not side-lined, as they were at COP26, in the pursuit of hollow declarations of net zero targets three decades into the future. 

Ensuring equality 

• A developing country leadership at COP27 can ensure effective discussions, based on equity and common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, on the relative responsibilities and sharing of mitigation and adaptation burdens while coping with loss and damage.