Five key milestones from week two at COP27
A lot has happened over the last two weeks, we’ve already summarised week one, but with COP27 drawing to a close today, here is everything you need to know about week two.
UK-US Green Shipping Corridor launched
The UK and US plan to launch a Green Shipping Corridor Task Force to establish green shipping corridors between the two countries and unite experts in the sector to unlock cleantech innovations to decarbonise.
By the end of week one, ten leading shipping and green-hydrogen organisations signed a joint statement. They agreed to work together towards zero-emissions vessels by 2030 and aim to fully decarbonise the shipping sector by 2050 by using green-hydrogen-based fuels.
Gender was a key topic, but women were significantly underrepresented
The role of women in dealing with all aspects of climate-related issues is crucial. The majority of the world’s poor are women. However, Women make up less than 34% of country negotiating teams at the UN summit in Egypt.
On Gender Day, the UNFCCC recognised the importance of equality and inclusion for all genders by establishing a dedicated agenda item addressing gender and climate change issues.
The Executive Director of UN Women, Ms Sima Sami Bahous, noted that the world is not on track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 5 by 2030. Their report brought up meaningful facts, such as the climate crisis negatively impacting women more than men.‘Women and girls are doubly affected—first by the crisis itself, and further by a set of enduring repercussions that are specific to women’s lives, and that we must tackle as an equal priority.’
Half the world to be living in water-stressed areas by 2025
On the 14th of November, water and gender were the topics of the day. The World Health Organisation stated that by 2025 half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas.
But some good news came of this. The World Resources Institute launched the African Cities Water Adaptation Fund (ACWA Fund) with the aim of channelling US$5 billion toward urban water resilience solutions in 100 African cities by 2032. The Fund will support local leaders by providing direct access to funding and technical support to implement innovative solutions targeting water issues.
The EU released a new emission target
By 2030, the European Union has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 57% of the 1990 levels – a more ambitious target than ever before. This follows the recently passed legislation to phase out fossil fuel cars by 3025. EU’s climate policy chief Frans Timmermans claimed that the EU was “saving more energy, investing more in renewables than ever before.”
A win for Nature and Biodiversity
The global scientific evidence of recent IPCC and IPBES reports is clear: this decade represents a critical window for tackling interdependent biodiversity, land degradation, and climate crises. Climate change is one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss but it is an area that often doesn’t get enough attention.
However, on the penultimate day, the COP27 presidency launched the ENACT partnership, a hub for those working on nature-based solutions to collaborate, facilitate and accelerate the implementation of nature-based solution commitments.
The Partnership is expected to enhance the resilience of 1 billion vulnerable people, “significantly increase” global mitigation and protect, restore, and sustainably manage up to 2.4 billion hectares of ecosystems by the end of the decade.
It’s been a whole year since we heard similar pledges and promises from COP26 in Glasgow, but little has changed. Let’s hope this year, we see more than just words, and real action takes place following COP27 when world leaders all return to their own countries and life carries on.
We’ll leave you with this opening statement from the inspiring Leah Namugerwa speaking for the younger generations, asking for real change.
