The Politics of COP27 and its real time effects on SIDS including Jamaica with agendas like Loss and Damage
Welcome to Backayard’s all new Climate Clock Column, where we explore our region’s biggest climate crisis and solutions.
This story was produced as part of the 2022 Climate Change Media Partnership Virtual Fellowship, organized by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network and supported by the Commonwealth Foundation
Welcome to Backayard’s all new Climate Clock Column, where we explore our region’s biggest climate crisis and solutions.
Perhaps you, like many hard working Jamaicans, locally and abroad have seen terms like COP (Conference of Parties), NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution), adaptation or loss and damage. Perhaps the opportunity has not yet presented itself, to research or fully grasp what some of these things mean or what they have to do with those who live in and love Jamaica or the global south at large.
Many of these terms arise from global climate change conversations happening in different forums; the Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the largest collection of delegates from all over the world, representing their nations, to negotiate and push for actions towards keeping the global temperature at 1.5 degrees Celcius.
But for them to truly mean something we have to understand the science behind what can be distilled as the central conflict. We all live on this planet and are governed by our own set of national or regional politics but at the same time, the earth and nature has its own politics. When the outcomes of centuries of these dominant politics collide, we end up with a powerful global north that is responsible for the majority of emission that continues to compound and speed up the effects of climate change. The global south, which is home to many small states and developing islands, including Jamaica, suffer more direct exposure to the effects than the global north. In simple terms, the global north contributes most to climate change, while the global south contributes the least and are more vulnerable to the effects.
The affair involves a level of politics, and a gathering of diplomats that is so large it simply must assume a kind of pageantry and performance. This in many ways has led to successive COPs that have been effective in advancing the conversation on the climate crisis, which is necessary in its own rite.
But these advance negotiations, don’t automatically lead to action. In 2009 for instance, developed countries pledged a US$100 billion climate finance for developing countries by 2020. They failed to meet this target. At this year’s COP 27 which takes place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, from 6-18 November, parties meet to push for more ambitious pledge and concrete climate action.
Jamaica has sent a group of delegates including ministers including Matthew Samuda (Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation), Pearnel Charles Jr., Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Omar Alcock, a senior technical officer of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, to represent and lobby for Jamaica and the region. This COP27 under the theme “together for implementation” has been dubbed as the African COP as African countries emphasize the devastating climate impacts the region is facing and push for greater commitment from developed countries to mobilize climate action fund.
Although loss and damage was adapted to the agenda – a progress welcomed by many — the temperature at the negotiations rooms in COP27 remains high. Countries like the United States – world’s largest emission emitter — have not only failed to meet their US$100 billion pledge, but they are also hesitant to explicitly claim responsibility to fund loss and damage in the global south.
According to the Jamaica Climate Change Youth Council’s executive director Eleanor Terrelonge this tension is expected, “It’s unsurprising. You’re asking countries to be responsible for effects that they are not feeling. Because it’s not something that’s directly affecting them in the same way, they’re not really motivated to fix the problem.
This is where the idea of climate justice comes into play – how powerful and healthy nations have been historically responsible for climate change, and yet the poorest nations and most vulnerable states are disproportionately impacted. On one hand we have a developed country with the infrastructure to, technology, and resources that emits the most carbon emission across the globe. On the other hand you have a developing country without the kind of infrastructure to recover or create that kind of exhaust.
Loss and damage is an issue of climate justice because it attempts to balance the scales of this climate crisis by holding the big emitters accountable and responsible for funding, as the terms suggests, the loss and damage of lives and property. The fact that it has been added to the COP27 agenda, means that the countries hope to come to an agreement about how a loss and damage financial facility can be established.
Still, how does this affect us, the average people? Well in simple terms, when funding is available, old uncle Roy the fishers living out in Port Maria for years who recently had his shack and gear destroyed by last month’s cyclone might be able to access some remittance and replace his damaged gear. Sums like these might not seem important, but when a storm comes and steals away the life you’ve built and your means of survival; help is essential.
According to Dr Theresa Rodriguez, CEO of the Jamaica Environment Trust, for Jamaica, loss and damage has special meaning, “As a small island and developing state(SIDS), we cannot avoid the impact of climate change. Things like extreme weather events, storms, we also have droughts. So we’re already feeling the effects.”
But with Reuters recently reporting that COP27 is considering the loss and damage fund with the stipulations of two years negotiation and proof of adaptation of each country’s NDC, one can’t help but feel like the goal post is being moved once more. Dr Rodriguez feels it matters little, “Whether we adapt or not, we still can’t avoid the effects of climate change.”
NDC is another essential abbreviation that is commonly used in the climate conversation and it stands for Nationally Determined Contribution. This is essentially targets set by countries to cut their emissions.
In its updatedNDC, Jamaica sets a target to reduce 25.4% of its greenhouse gas emission unconditionally, or 28.5% with international support.
Eleanor Terrelonge has faith in our progress, “Our NDC is pretty ambitious and we’ve revised our target which means that we’re on track and looking at how we can do more. That’s a really good sign for us.”
As we enter the second week of Cop27, the negotiations about loss and damage are expected to progress, and a final decision to be made regarding the fund. Jamaica, the Caribbean, Africa and the entire global south await with baited breath as the climate crisis looms like an arching tsunami over our lives and homes.
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