COP27 ends with mixed results following tough negotiations

The 27th UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) ended today in Sharm el-Sheikh. As Team Germany, the Federal Government has worked both in the negotiations and through concrete initiatives and partnerships for greater ambition in containing the climate crisis and for more solidarity with the countries impacted most by it.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock: "We travelled to Sharm el-Sheikh together as Team Germany to campaign for greater ambition in the fight against the climate crisis and for more solidarity with the most vulnerable states. The results are mixed. As the EU, we took a united approach, built up a broad alliance of states and thus were able to make a breakthrough on the issue of loss and damage, opening up a new chapter in the area of climate justice. However, given the dramatic impact the climate crisis is already having, the agreed steps to cut emissions fall very short. The gap to 1.5 degrees is still wide open, and a few states blocked every attempt to close it somewhat. At the same time, we must recognise that the vast majority of countries around the world are committed to a future with solar and wind power, not oil and coal. Not only in the negotiations did we work to accelerate the global energy transition; in parallel, we also pushed on with new partnerships with South Africa, Indonesia, Kenya and Egypt. So even though COP27 ended this morning, our work to reduce emissions, expand solar and wind energy and show greater solidarity with the most vulnerable goes on."

Economic Affairs and Climate Action Minister Robert Habeck: "A difficult Climate Change Conference has come to an end, with an outcome we can’t really be satisfied with. But the EU’s consistent stance and the prudent way Germany has handled the negotiations have prevented us from backsliding behind Paris and Glasgow. It’s also good that the focus has shifted to financial support for particularly vulnerable countries, and that we industrialised countries have an obligation here. The mandate from the Paris Agreement applies all the more now: to work vigorously to actually reduce global warming through specific projects. The focus is now on driving our common shift away from coal, oil and gas through a sustainable, socially just, global energy transition and the decarbonisation of industry. This is the only way we can get on track to meet the 1.5 target. We are working on this and have already made specific progress. Together with other EU countries, we want to realise an electricity connection to Morocco in the next two years. We are removing barriers to electricity transmission from Africa and the Middle East. We are also moving forward with the development of green hydrogen networks. The new hydrogen fund, which supports the Global South in making its own climate-friendly energy investments, provides a strong platform for this."

Development Minister Svenja Schulze: "The outcome of the Climate Change Conference is a mixed bag: too little progress on ambition, great progress on solidarity. Germany has proved at the conference that it is a reliable partner for the developing countries. The new fund for climate-related loss and damage within the official UN climate regime shows that we have managed to build bridges between industrialised and developing countries. The fact that the international community is finally giving the topic of climate-related loss and damage the attention it needs, after decades of discussion and debate, is a genuine breakthrough. Germany will contribute its fair share to tackling the issue of climate-related damage. When it comes to the specific design details, I will be making sure that all those who have played a part in causing the climate disaster are called upon to pay into the new fund. That means, above all, the biggest emitters: the US, China and also, of course, the EU. But we cannot afford to wait until the new fund has been set up. Climate-related damage is already happening today. Because of that, we are starting now with the implementation of the Global Shield against Climate Risks, which was expressly welcomed by all the Parties in the final declaration. It is also important that the international community has clearly acknowledged the fact that the development banks need to do far more for climate action. That gives me the backing to continue driving forward the reform of the World Bank and other financial institutions which was initiated with the US."

Environment Minister Steffi Lemke: "The overall results from COP27 fall short of what was needed. That is extremely disappointing. However, the agreement reached by the international community on setting up a loss and damage fund to support the poorest and most vulnerable countries is an important step that will enable us to better manage the adverse impacts of the climate crisis in future. One message came across loud and clear at the 27th UN Climate Change Conference: successful climate action hinges on nature conservation and intact ecosystems. The negotiations as a whole were difficult, but it was encouraging that nature-based solutions and nature-based climate action were a focus of COP27 and included in the final declaration. This bolsters my position for the United Nations biodiversity conference CBD COP15 in December in Montreal. In Sharm el-Sheikh, we talked about keeping our ecosystems intact so that they can protect us from floods, heavy rains, heat and drought, and help us advance climate action. COP27 recognised that the three existential crises of our time – climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss – are interconnected and can only be solved together."

Background information:

Outside the negotiations, substantial concrete progress was agreed to curtail global emissions and the impact of the climate crisis. Concrete initiatives like this are becoming an ever more important part of the UN Climate Change Conferences. Team Germany, comprising the Federal Foreign Office, the Development Ministry, the Climate Action Ministry and the Environment Ministry, succeeded with its partners in providing crucial impetus:

• The Global Shield against Climate Risks, which Germany launched during its G7 Presidency in cooperation with the V20, the group of the 58 most vulnerable countries. The Global Shield systematically analyses, country by country, gaps in protection and works with the countries hardest hit to develop protection packages to give people financial protection against climate-related loss and damage.
• Development Minister Schulze discussed the first operation of the Global Shield with Pakistan, one of the “pathfinder countries”, and pledged concrete support for risk analysis and social protection systems.
• The Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) with Indonesia was agreed during COP at the G20 Summit in Bali. Public and private funding totalling 20 billion US dollars will enable Indonesia to speed up its energy transition by ten years.
• Practical implementation of the Just Energy Transition Partnership with South Africa has now been started with a loan of over 300 million euro to accelerate the energy transition.
• Germany agreed a Climate and Development Partnership with Kenya. The partnership aims at 100 percent renewables by 2030. This shows other developing countries that development is possible without reliance on fossil fuels.
• Germany and the United States agreed an accelerated energy transition with Egypt which also includes social support measures for employees of the gas industry.
• The Federal Chancellor doubled Germany’s pledge for forest protection to two billion euro.
• Together with Egypt, we launched the new ENACT Initiative to coordinate global efforts to address climate change, land and ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss through nature-based solutions. Here we are looking ahead to the World Conservation Congress (CBD COP15) in Montreal in December.
• The Development and Economic Affairs Ministries launched a platform for the international scale-up of the green hydrogen economy that aims not only to support German needs but also to develop value chains in developing countries.
• The Sustainable Electricity Transition Roadmap with Morocco was signed by Germany and other EU member states. It envisages a direct link between European electricity grids and Morocco’s electricity grid and the dismantling of barriers to the transmission of renewable electricity from Africa. This is to be implemented by 2024 at the latest.