{"id":1546,"date":"2022-12-06T18:45:45","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T18:45:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecosocialist.scot\/?p=1546"},"modified":"2022-12-06T18:45:45","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T18:45:45","slug":"cop27-was-a-spectacular-failure-boycotting-future-cop-conferences-however-would-only-compound-the-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecosocialist.scot\/?p=1546","title":{"rendered":"COP27 was a spectacular failure \u2013 boycotting future COP conferences, however, would only compound the problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alan Thornett<\/a>\u00a0offers his thoughts on a troubling end to COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh.<\/p>\n

COP27, the 27th\u00a0Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, held last month in Sharm El-Sheikh to confront the planetary emergency caused by climate change, failed spectacularly in the face of the most challenging set of circumstances a COP conference had faced since the Framework Convention was launched at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro\u00a0in 1992.<\/p>\n

It faced a critical situation from the outset, both in terms of the global geopolitical situation today arising from Putin\u2019s invasion of Ukraine and the stage that has been reached in the implementation of the UN COP process itself.<\/p>\n

Only a last-minute agreement to establish a \u201closs and damage\u201d (or \u201creparations\u201d) fund into which the rich countries, which are the most responsible for climate change, would subscribe to help the poor countries, which are the least responsible for global warming, minimise and mitigate the impact of climate change and transition to renewable energy saved COP27 from total ignominy.<\/p>\n

Prior to the COP, UN Secretary General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres had argued strongly for such an agreement, warning that unless there is what he called an \u201chistoric pact\u201d between the rich and poor countries on this issue, the planet could already be doomed.<\/p>\n

The creation of such a fund had been scandalously kept off the agenda by the rich countries for 30 years and was only forced onto it this year after heavy pressure from the developing countries. There was no agreement, however, as to how much money should be paid into it, who should pay it, or on what basis.\u00a0It was still a step forward, but it was the only one that could be claimed at this conference.<\/p>\n

Arguments will continue about the size of the fund and which countries will benefit, and there is a proposal to ask the International Panel on Climate Change (the IPCC) to prepare a recommendation for the COP28 next year in Dubai in the UAE.<\/p>\n

When it came to carbon emissions reduction, however, COP27 was an unmitigated disaster.<\/p>\n

The UN carbon emissions reduction plan\u2014the so-called \u201cratcheting up\u201d process adopted at COP21 in Paris in 2015\u2014which\u00a0required\u00a0each member state to determine its own carbon reduction target\u2014or \u201c<\/em>Nationally Determined Contributions\u201d\u2014and then enhance them annually at implementation conferences that would be held for that purpose\u2014had fallen apart before the conference was open.<\/p>\n

Exactly what happened is not clear. What is clear is that the pledges made in Sharm El-Sheikh, far from building on those made in Glasgow, were well behind those made there, and that the process had suffered a disastrous retreat.<\/p>\n

The energy debate<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The general debate on energy was also a disaster. Not only had the Egyptian Presidency produced a draft text that blatantly favoured the oil and gas petro-states and the fossil fuel industries in the region, but it had also opened the door to the biggest contingent of fossil fuel lobbyists that a COP conference had ever seen. All the world\u2019s biggest oil and gas producers were there in force, and they used it to the full. Saudi Arabia (no less) ran an event to promote the \u201ccircular carbon economy,\u201d under which carbon capture, hydrogen, and other bogus technologies were scandalously presented as clean.<\/p>\n

A major target for them was the 1.5\u00b0C maximum temperature increase that had also been agreed in Paris. The session dealing with this became so heated that the EU threatened to walk out at one point if the 1.5\u00b0C maximum was not protected. Although a reference to 1.5 \u00b0C has remained in the final text, the language is ambiguous and widely regarded as unreliable.<\/p>\n

The agreement in Glasgow, which for the first time named (and shamed) coal, gas, and oil as major threats to the future of the planet and additionally, in the case of coal, fixed a date for ending its use altogether, was also under attack. In the end, Saudi Arabia and other petro-states, along with China, Russia, and Brazil, who had been campaigning for their removal, were able to get rid of it. Fossil fuels that had been declared obsolete or obsolecent in Glasgow had been rehabilitated in Sharm el-Sheikh. To add insult to injury, the conference agreed to define natural gas as a renewable energy source.<\/p>\n

Alok Sharma, no less, the UK\u2019s (Boris Johnson appointed) president of COP26, recently sacked from the cabinet by Sunak\u2014but who appears to have become more strongly committed to the cause having been appointed as a stop-gap\u2014was visibly outraged by what had happened to the energy text and lambasted the conference in the closing session:<\/p>\n

\u201cThose of us who came to Egypt to keep 1.5C alive, and to respect what every single one of us agreed to in Glasgow, have had to fight relentlessly here to hold the line. We have had to battle to build on one of the key achievements of Glasgow, including the call on parties to revisit and strengthen their \u201cNationally Determined Contributions.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Repeatedly banging the table, he said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe joined with many parties to propose a number of measures that would have contributed to this. Emissions peaking before 2025, as the science tells us is necessary \u2013 NOT IN THIS TEXT. A clear follow-through on the phase down of coal \u2013 NOT IN THIS TEXT. A commitment to phase out all fossil fuels \u2013 NOT IN THIS TEXT. The energy text, he said had been weakened in the final minutes of the conference to endorse \u201clow-emissions energy\u201d, which can be interpreted as a reference to natural gas.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The result is a disaster and will directly lead to more death, destruction, poverty, and people having to leave their homes. Climate events become ever more severe as constraints on carbon emissions are lifted. It will speed up the arrival of tipping points that can take climate chaos out of control\u2014possibly disastrously so. It will also give succour to the climate deniers and offset the defeats they suffered in Paris and Glasgow.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that this COP27 faced very difficult conditions.\u00a0<\/em>Putin\u2019s war triggered an obscene scramble back to fossil energy when it is abundantly clear the only answer to either the economic or the environmental crisis is a rapid transition to renewable energy, which is getting cheaper all the time. The UK government immediately issued 90 new gas and oil extraction licences for the North Sea and is seeking an agreement to import large quantities of fracked natural gas from the USA.<\/p>\n

Putin\u2019s war, however, was there long before COP27, and the Egyptian organisers did nothing to counter it.\u00a0In fact, they cynically exploited it for their own ends in order to get emissions restrictions lifted or watered down.<\/p>\n

So where do we (and the movement) go from here?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

One thing that must be avoided as a result of all of this is a boycott of future COP conferences or the entire COP process by either the radical left or the wider movement. It would simply compound the problem. It was being discussed widely before\u00a0Sharm El-Sheikh,\u00a0and it has continued since, both within the radical left and in the broader movement.\u00a0Gretta Thunburg called for it before Sharm El-Sheikh,\u00a0and\u00a0George Monbiot advocates it in\u00a0his November 24 Guardian article.<\/p>\n

A boycott by the radical left would primarily be an act of self-harm (or self-isolation), whereas a boycott by the wider movement would demobilise the climate struggle at a critical juncture. Most climate campaigns and NGOs would refuse to follow such a call anyway. The front-line countries certainly would do so because they see the COP process, with all its problems, as their only chance of survival. That is why they mount such ferocious battles at every COP conference.<\/p>\n

There has also been a major change in the climate struggle since the\u00a02015\u00a0Paris Accords.\u00a0This is because the job of the UN COP process has changed from agreeing on a plan to cut carbon emissions (the Paris Accords) to convincing 190 countries with different political systems and vested interests to accept their responsibilities and carry them out. This is a huge task, not least given adverse global geopolitical conditions.<\/p>\n

It is clear that the UN has failed to do this, and it is a big unresolved problem. It is important that the left and the climate movement recognise this reality. It is pointless to pretend that this problem does not exist. That they are simply refusing to act when all they would have to do if they wanted to resolve climate change is snap their fingers\u2014which is exactly what George Monbiot argues in his Guardian article. He puts it this way:<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what do we do now? After 27 summits and no effective action, it seems that the real purpose was to keep us talking. If governments were serious about preventing climate breakdown, there would have been no Cops 2-27. The major issues would have been resolved at Cop1, as the ozone depletion crisis was at a single summit in Montreal\u201d.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(He is referring to the 1987 UN Montreal Protocol which banned the use of ozone depleting substances in order to protect the ozone layer that was threating the future of the planet.)<\/p>\n

This is glib\u00a0in the extreme since there is absolutely no comparison between banning a substance that was easy to replace with no major consequence to anyone involved and abolishing fossil fuels, to which the planet has been addicted for 100 years and has massive vested interests behind it. If you misunderstand (or misrepresent) the scale of the problem, it is hard to contribute to its solution.<\/p>\n

The key strategic dilemma<\/strong><\/h2>\n

What we actually face is some hard strategic choices. The problem, as I\u00a0argued in my first article<\/a>, is that only governments\u2014and ultimately governments prepared to go on a war footing to do so\u2014can implement the structural changes necessary to abolish carbon emissions and transition to renewable energy in the few years that science is giving us. The radical left can\u2019t do it, the wider movement can\u2019t do it, and a mass movement can\u2019t do it\u2014other than by forcing governments to act.<\/p>\n

We are facing a planetary emergency. And under these conditions, it is only the UN Framework Convention\u2014or something with a similar global reach and authority \u2013 organised on a transnational basis that is capable of addressing the 190 individual countries that will need to be involved and convinced if it is to be effective.<\/p>\n

In terms of the climate justice movement, it is also the only forum through which the climate movement can place pressure and demands on the global elites and around which we can build the kind of mass movement that can force them to take effective action.<\/p>\n

A socialist revolution (unfortunately) is not just around the corner, but the task we face is time-limited. We have less than ten years to stop global warming; remember, an ecosocialist society can\u2019t build on a dead planet.<\/p>\n

The task we face, therefore, whether it fits our plans or not or whether we like it or not, is to force the global elites (however reluctantly) to introduce the structural changes necessary to halt climate change within the timescale science is giving us, and we can\u2019t do that by turning our backs on the COP process; we can only do that by engaging with it more effectively and building a mass movement to force it to act against the logic of the capitalist system that they embrace.<\/p>\n

What kind of mass movement?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Everyone in this debate argues that a powerful mass movement will be needed to force the change that is necessary in this struggle\u2014including George Monbiot. It is an aspiration, however, that begs many questions. What kind of mass movement do we need? It would have to be the largest coalition of progressive forces ever assembled (because we have to save the planet), so it would not be socialist at first, a movement capable of confronting the kinds of societal breakdowns that are likely as climate impacts worsen. But how would it come to be, and how would its future path be decided?<\/p>\n

Such a movement must include those defending the ecology and climate of the planet in any number of ways. It must include the indigenous peoples who have been the backbone of so many of these struggles, along with the young school strikers who have been so inspirational over the past two years. And it should include the activists of XR who have brought new energy into the movement in the form of non-violent direct action.<\/p>\n

Movements that emerge spontaneously are more likely to move to the right than to the left, depending on the experiences gained by the forces during their formation and the balance of political forces within them; the strength of the socialist (or indeed ecosocialist) forces within such a movement will be determined, at least in part, by the role such forces have played in the movement\u2019s development and the political legacy they have been able to establish. It must also have a progressive political and environmental driving force within it that fights for an environmentally progressive direction of travel.<\/p>\n

Forcing major structural change against the will of the ruling elites will not only need a powerful mass movement behind it but also an environmental action programme behind it such as abolishing fossil fuels, making a rapid transition to renewables, ensuring a socially just transition, making the polluters pay, and retrofitting homes that can command mass support, not just amongst socialists and environmental activists but amongst the wider populations as they are impacted by the ecological crisis itself.<\/p>\n

The key to this is to make\u00a0fossil fuels far more expensive than renewables by means that are socially just, that redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor, that can bring about a big reduction in emissions in the time available, and (crucially) are capable of commanding popular support. This means heavily taxing the polluters to both cut emissions and ensure that they fund the transition to renewables.<\/p>\n

As long as fossil fuel remains the cheapest way to generate energy, it is going to be used. An important mechanism, therefore, for bringing about big reductions in carbon emissions in a short period of time must be carbon pricing\u2014making the polluters pay. This means levying heavy taxes or fees on carbon emissions as a part of a strongly progressive and redistributive taxation system that can win mass popular support.<\/p>\n

One proposal on the table in this regard is James Hansen\u2019s fee and dividend proposition. It provides the framework for very big emissions reductions, here and now while capitalism exists, and on the basis of a major transfer of wealth from the rich to the poor (as argued above) in order to drive it forward.<\/p>\n

As he recognises, it would need to go along with a crash programme of renewable energy production to meet the demand that his incentives would create. It would also need a major programme of energy conservation, a big reduction in the use of the internal combustion engine, the abolition of factory farming, and a big reduction in meat consumption.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The UN has made a unique contribution to the struggle against climate change, a capitalist institution as it inevitably is, having identified the problem soon after it entered public consciousness 32 years ago. It has confronted opposition from many of its member states, and it has been successful, along with its specialist divisions such as the IPCC, in winning the war both against the climate deniers\u2014who were massively backed by the fossil fuel producers for many years\u2014and in winning the scientific community very strongly over to the climate struggle, without which we would not be where we are today.<\/p>\n

It has also been key\u2014along with relentless pressure from the ecological crisis itself\u2014in transforming global awareness of climate change to a level without which the options we are discussing today would not exist.<\/p>\n

Today, however, the UN faces a pivotal moment. Its carbon reduction strategy has fallen apart, thanks to the Paris Accords and the Glasgow Agreements. Unless this is addressed urgently, it could paralyse the UN\u2019s environmental work for many years. It could weaken the global justice movement and open the door to increasingly disastrous climate events, leading directly to tipping points that could take climate chaos out of control.<\/p>\n

Unless drastic changes are made, not only the Paris Accords and the Glasgow Agreements will be rendered obsolete, but also the entire approach to climate change adopted in 1992 under the UN Framework Agreement on Climate Change; the 1997 Kyoto Agreement.<\/p>\n

The UN must stop handing COP conferences over to countries that cannot:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Support the project the UN is collectively seeking to promote<\/li>\n
  • Ensure the basic right to campaign and protest<\/li>\n
  • Support the project the UN is collectively seeking to promote<\/li>\n
  • Drastically limit fossil fuel lobbies the kind of access to its conferences<\/li>\n
  • Seek to ensure that the UN\u2019s carbon reduction project is a success.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    A very good start would be to accept Lula\u2019s offer to hold the 2025 COP in the Amazon rain forest, which would be a huge boost to the movement.<\/p>\n

    Guterres told us in his opening speech in Sharm El-Sheikh that \u201cthe clock is ticking.\u201d We are in the fight of our lives, and we are losing. Greenhouse gas emissions keep growing. Global temperatures keep rising, and our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible. We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator.<\/p>\n

    In his closing speech, he told us that:<\/p>\n

    \u201cOur planet is still in the emergency room. We need to drastically reduce emissions now \u2013 and this is an issue this COP did not address. The world still needs a giant leap on climate ambition.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    He was absolutely right on both counts. His commitment and his passion for the cause have never been in doubt. His task now must be to make the necessary changes in order for his warnings to be translated into actions by making the UN COP carbon reduction process fit for purpose in terms of the challenges we face in the twenty-first century.<\/p>\n

    \n
    \n