Day 12: 18 November 2022

COP delegates were working late into the night on Friday to narrow down differences over key elements of the draft decisions. Photo via UNFCCC/Flickr

Negotiations in Sharm El-Sheikh have reached a critical point late on Friday, with Parties locked in disagreement over elements of the cover text, as well as differences over text on loss & damage, and the meeting looked set to run into (at least) Saturday.

After ministers had done their best to bridge differences on a number of issues, the Presidency took over today, putting COP President Sameh Shoukry directly in charge of the negotiations.

The cover text is a major source of disagreement, with Parties arguing for example over language regarding the phase-down of fossil fuels. Some Parties are refusing to accept language that would extend the phase down to oil and gas, while others would like to stick to the Glasgow language, which referenced “the phasedown of unabated coal power and phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies”.

The Presidency hosted a Heads of Delegation meeting in the afternoon, where among other suggestions, some Parties also asked for language on maintaining the 1.5 degrees goal and on adaptation to be strengthened. 

The presidency asked for proposals for a new iteration of the cover text by 8pm this evening, which indicates a new version of the draft will appear at some stage overnight.

On Loss & Damage, there have been reports of a joint EU-US proposal to bridge differences on the issue. As we’ve reported, the issue of Loss & Damage is on a COP agenda for the first time, and the European Union made a dramatic proposal on Thursday night for the COP to establish a Loss & Damage Fund to assist the most vulnerable nations.

Subsequent negotiations over this fund and the potential donor base have also shone a light on China. Interventions during Thursday night’s plenary were interpreted as seeking China’s participation as a donor, which that country’s representative strenuously rebuffed. 

There has also been an effort by some Parties to insert language into the cover text regarding REDD-plus eligibility under Article 6.2, and we’re interested to see whether this survives against some opposition.

Article 6

Shortly after we sent out yesterday’s COP27 Report, new text on Article 6.2 appeared.

Of particular interest to our observers was the text regarding authorisation of ITMOs: the draft decision clarifies that “internationally transferred mitigation outcomes are authorised towards use(s) in accordance with decision 2/CMA.3, annex, paragraph 1(d) and (f), no later than first transfer”.

..and “a participating Party shall specify first transfer in accordance with decision 2/CMA.3, annex, paragraph 2(b), as part of the authorization of internationally transferred mitigation outcomes towards use(s)”.

The proposed draft decision adopts rules on tracking ITMOs through a registry (in Annex I of the document), on expert reviews of Party reporting (Annexes II and III), on how Parties should report their Article 6.2 activities (Annexes V and VI), and a template for the format in which the reports should be drawn up (Annex VII).

During an afternoon contact meeting numerous Parties criticised the draft text. The EU called it out for a lack of ambition, while others were unhappy with elements of the decision on reporting and on tracking of ITMOs. 

In the early evening a joint Japan-Brazil “bridging proposal” for Article 6.2 was shared with negotiators, but our observers had not had a chance to review it by midnight local time.

This will be the final COP27 report! We will host two post-COP briefing calls for members on Tuesday November 22, at 0800 GMT and at 1600 GMT. Details on how to join these will be circulated to all members.
 
Kind regards,
 
Alessandro