COP27 summit near halftime but critical issues remain unresolved

Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt

The 27th edition of the United Nations Conference of Parties (COP27) climate summit at Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh city reached halfway mark on Saturday. Yet the key issues on the agenda remain unresolved. Negotiators from across the world are working to draft deals, hoping to get all countries on board. 

The two-week meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh is focused on pledges to curb greenhouse gas emissions and help developing nations cope with climate change-related disasters and the effects of global warming. 

Here are the unresolved points of the COP27 agenda in Egypt:

Controlling rising temperatures

Climate change activists have expressed disappointment that the agenda of the COP27 summit falls short of specifying the threshold to which the rising temperature should be controlled. This is reportedly due to pushback from some major oil and gas exporting nations.

Limiting emissions

A proposed draft agreement circulated on Saturday at the COP27 summit had 200 square brackets, Euro News reported. This means that on cutting emissions, countries are yet to reach a common consensus. 

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Some countries want emission-control measures on an annual basis whereas others are pressing for a longer-term roadmap. 

'Loss and Damage' compensation to developing nations

Pressure from developing countries ensured that the issue of 'loss and damage', compensation to developing nations by their developed counterparts, due to the latter's historical exploitation of the environment was placed on the formal agenda. 

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The creation of an actual 'Loss and Damage' fund is yet to see the daylight on which the deadlock between the global south and global north must be resolved in the remaining days of the COP27 summit.

Ceasing the use of fossil fuels

Some countries demand the COP27 negotiations result in an explicit commitment by the nations to phase out the use of fossil fuels. Countries heavily dependent on fossil fuels have not been on board, pointing out the lack of funds required for the transition to renewable sources of energy. 

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