COP27: Over €200m In Funds Secured For Vulnerable Communities To Adapt To Climate Change. What’s Next?

Photo by Matthew TenBruggencate on Unsplash

Agreements on how to address global warming – and reiteration of the 2015 Paris climate agreement to keep global warming from rising over 1.5 degrees Celsius – were made during the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), which came to a close in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, last week. In what the United Nations calls a “breakthrough agreement”, a funding plan for vulnerable countries hit hard by climate disasters was also put in motion. This deal iterates the same goal that was set during the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

According to the UN, the conference saw important progress, as governments finally agreed on the way to move forward on the Global Goal on Adaptation. As part of the agreement, pledges that total more than $230m (around €224m) were made to the Adaptation Fund during COP27. “These pledges will help many more vulnerable communities adapt to climate change through concrete adaptation solutions,” as explained by the UN. 

In addition, parties present at the conference also agreed on institutional arrangements to put in motion the Santiago Network for Loss and Damage. This network will “catalyse technical assistance to developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change,” according to the UN.

For what will the Adaptation Fund money be used?

The funding arrangements, as well as a dedicated fund, will “assist developing countries to respond to loss and damage”. In addition, a transitional committee was also established. This committee will make recommendations on how to operationalise new funding, as well as the fund obtained at COP28. The first meeting of the transitional committee is expected to take place during March of next year.

Why is this agreement “groundbreaking”? 

According to Sky News, the COP process is based on consensus, which means that all of the almost 200 countries who attend the conference have to agree on a decision for the deal to go through. “[This for example] allowed for countries including Saudi Arabia, China and Russia to push back on the widely accepted 1.5C target,” wrote Victoria Seabrook of the news outlet.

Simon Stiell, the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, said that the outcome of the Global Goal Adaptation agreement “moves us forward”. “We have determined a way forward on a decades-long conversation on funding for loss and damage – deliberating over how we address the impacts on communities whose lives and livelihoods have been ruined by the very worst impacts of climate change.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres also announced a USD 3.1 billion plan to ensure everyone on the planet is protected by early warning systems within the next five years.

So what’s next?

COP26 was the most ambitious yet and garnered a tremendous amount of media attention at the time. Big promises were made along with plans to execute these - however, in the lead up to COP27, world leaders have been the target of heavy criticism off the back of inadequate action on climate targets.

These voices began receiving notoriety since the Paris Agreement in 2015, and over the past seven years we’ve heard increasingly dire warnings from the scientific community about where we’ll be heading unless countries begin working together and avoid making existing problems even worse.

True leadership and tangible action, along with a prioritisation of our common climate goals are needed in order to steer our world into more sustainable, prosperous communities. But in order for this change to truly come through, we need to work from the ground up.

Change begins at home, and we need to put in the work across our communities, cities and regions through carefully planned and executed initiatives that build a more resilient future for our citizens.

One issue that has often come up is the lack of communication and fluid working relationships from local through to national governments - and as long as local governments fail to be a driving force for change through adequate planning and management, all the budgeting, funding and big ideas will eventually go to waste. Let’s begin by taking charge at local level of the change within our own communities, and work together towards a brighter, greener future.