Whether we read the local media, or the international press releases and news releases by the COP, one thing is clear. The transition to a more sustainable energy system is not progressing as one would hope for.
From the COP 27 website, we quote the following:
- On 20 November, the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27), that took place in the Egyptian coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh, concluded with a historic decision to establish and operationalize a loss and damage fund.
- Welcoming the decision and calling the fund essential, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that more needs to be done to drastically reduce emissions now. “The world still needs a giant leap on climate ambition.” “The red line we must not cross is the line that takes our planet over the 1.5 degree temperature limit,” he stressed, urging the world not to relent “in the fight for climate justice and climate ambition.” “We can and must win this battle for our lives,” he concluded.
- From 6 to 20 November, COP27 held high-level and side events, key negotiations, and press conferences, hosting more than 100 Heads of State and Governments, over 35,000 participants and numerous pavilions.
This is a positive result, but scrolling through the statements and comments issued by various media, I conclude that the COP hasn’t resulted in the necessary actions. That only last-minute steps were taken, show an underlying problem: fundamental different views on how to tackle the issue of climate change and how to finance its costly measures.
Few recent quotes from the UN Secretary-General describing the concerns:
- “COP27 is scheduled to wrap up in 24 hours but countries remain divided on several significant issues including ‘loss and damage’, the UN Secretary-General said on Thursday, urging parties to rise to the urgency of the moment and agree on real solutions to solve the greatest challenge facing humanity. “
- “There is clearly a breakdown in trust between North and South, and between developed and emerging economies. This is no time for finger-pointing. The blame game is a recipe for mutually assured destruction,” António Guterres told journalists at the Sharm el-Sheikh International Conference Centre. The UN chief urged countries to deliver the kind of meaningful action that people, and the planet, so desperately need. “The world is watching and has a simple message: stand and deliver,” he underscored.
Refer for further details to: https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/cop27
For some time now, I haven’t published a blog as I’m wondering more and more about our energy systems and executed approaches in the Western world. Looking particularly at the Netherlands, I’m not so hopeful that we will meet the 2030 targets, let alone the one’s for 2050. My believe in nuclear power is growing by the day, as this will speed up the transition, besides the necessary growth in solar and wind energy, and use of renewable gases. Sure, we’ll introduce other risks, but what’s worse ? But irrespective of the above, our collective focus should be on an integral approach of addressing climate change in a responsible way.
Thijs Aarten.