Equity, unabated coal phasedown in first draft of COP27 ‘Cover Decision’; other elements missing

Equity, unabated coal phasedown in first draft of COP27 ‘Cover Decision’; other elements missing

Subject : Environment

Context-

• The Presidency of the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) produced a ‘non-paper’  on the morning of November 17, 2022. It did so by compiling inputs from various countries, with the intent of producing a cover decision.

About the document-

• The document has extensive sections on the energy crisis, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report findings and multilateral development banks (MDBs).
• The document reiterates the equity principles of the UNFCCC and the 2015 Paris Agreement despite resistance from many countries such as the United States, Switzerland and Australia.
• It calls for the establishment of a new work programme on just transition.
• On the UN’s REDD+ programme, it supports offering more finance for REDD+ results assessed and verified under Article 5.2 of the Paris Agreement, to help countries meet their nationally determined contributions (NDC) and net zero goals.
• Article 5.2 of the Paris Climate Agreement- 
  • Parties are encouraged to take action to implement and support, including through results-based payments, the existing framework as set out in related guidance and decisions already agreed under the Convention for: policy approaches and positive incentives for activities relating to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries; and alternative policy approaches, such as joint mitigation and adaptation approaches for the integral and sustainable management of forests, while reaffirming the importance of incentivizing, as appropriate, non-carbon benefits associated with such approaches.
• On finance, it “expresses grave concern” that the $100 billion climate finance goal has not been met by developed countries.