In a historic decision, after 30 years of delay and inaction, Parties at COP 27 (6-18 November, Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt) established a Loss and Damage fund, a first step towards redress and accountability for the human rights harm caused to millions confronting climate impacts on the frontlines. More than 30 ESCR-Net members –including Indigenous, social movements, and feminist leaders –were present in Sharm el-Sheikn to advocate for human rights at the heart of climate negotiations and meaningful action on loss and damage. The fund is a testament to the immense collective power of the unity of civil society, building on tireless efforts over decades. As our members stated in a collective submission to Ian Fry, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on human rights and climate change, “historical and present responsibility for the climate crisis lies with wealthy, highly industrialized countries and powerful corporate actors. Yet countries, peoples, and communities, especially Indigenous Peoples and those in the Global South, who have contributed the least to the climate crisis, are not only the hardest hit in terms of loss and damage, but climate change impacts are likely to more rapidly escalate in their contexts in relation to the rest of the world.” Despite the positive outcome, much work remains to be done in terms of operationalizing the loss and damage fund. "If it took 30 years of climate talks for developed countries to agree to provide finance to help rescue and rebuild poorer countries stricken by climate-related disaster, I hope it will not take many more years to translate this Agreement into practical actions to put human rights before business profits as well ensure that there is an equal and fair share for all, especially women who face the worse heat of the climate crises,” says Radiatu H.S. Kahnplaye (Natural Resource Women Platform, Liberia). Thanks to sustained civil society advocacy, COP27 was also the first environmental negotiation process to include an explicit reference to the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. A few wins, and yet, major challenges COP27 was held in the context of intense repression of civil society when it should be self-evident that there can be no just and sustainable climate action without open civic space and the effective protection of defenders. As members and allies have said loud and clear: no climate justice is possible without human rights. A major concern was the outrageous conflict of interest on display and overt corporate capture with the participation at COP27 of a record number of fossil fuel lobbyists, pushing for narrow, planet-wrecking interests and shaping the conference outcomes. The recent appointment of an executive of one of the world's largest oil producers as the president of COP28 makes even more evident that corporate capture of decision-making spaces, including the climate policy-making one, is one of the biggest obstacles to advancing real solutions. |
