Every year, the world convenes for a COP, a climate change international summit in which sustainable environmental solutions are sought from leaders. The world’s climate problems are real and at COP27 which is taking place in Egypt this year, global leaders will discuss the goals set out and those already reached. The key debate for this year’s COP27 has its roots in financing emerging nations in their efforts to maintain sustainability. The issue of financing is vital due to the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic took a huge toll, in terms of lives and costs, on all nations. The world is facing unprecedented debt, and evolving nations, tumultuous debt. Financing sustainable energy and raising funds is the need of the hour at COP27.
Sustainable Effort
COP27 aims to establish concrete plans to get the world’s finances in order, at least to keep the efforts towards sustainability going. The objectives are broadly to compel industrial and wealthy nations to generate investment inflows to emerging nations. This is done with a view to address energy safety, challenges of climate change, and general development of sustainability. Financing sustainable energy is at the core of the issues that face developing countries.
Countries, the wealthy ones, have extended efforts to expand the sources of clean energy and fund climate aspects, like the European Union’s Green Deal and North America’s Inflation Reduction Act. The intentions of these efforts, while inherently well-meaning, have not been able to do justice to goals set. The Energy Tracking Report of the World Bank reports this. The present status is that the world is far from being on track to fulfill the goals of curbing emissions. Furthermore, it is not on target in terms of sustainability. The current conditions in developing nations is dismal, and at COP27, it’s hoped that there will be some commitments. These would be in the form of investments in clean energy sources, mobilising efforts of international and public development financing by institutions. Additionally, appeals to private sectors to finance efforts will be made.
Wider Financial Scope
At present, the world faces the devastating effects of climate change on a regular basis. No country, however industrial or wealthy, is spared. In light of this, a strong nudge to financing sustainable energy has been given at COP27. China and the Group of 77 are instrumental in including the concerns of loss and destruction as a result of climate change events. They stress that COP27 must devise effective ways to deal with such costs.
Not a Case of Robin Hood
In 2021, at COP26, the situation in developed nations was not much different to what it is now. This is true for financing targets veering off course. Consequently, there has been a lag in which earlier targets are now set to be met by 2023. Unfortunately, this will have to be sped up as Mother Nature is getting more and more unpredictable, due to the error of human ways. If the world’s developed nations are to be “Robin Hood” for the good of the planet at large, only they can make processes work faster.
Action, Not Inaction
As the agenda of COP27 is all about action, the truth on the ground is different. The World Economic Forum in its Global Risks Report of 2022 has estimated $800 billion as a yearly amount for developing countries to finance sustainability efforts by 2025. Will this become a reality? We can simply “wait and see”. Whatever stand countries may take, on a grassroot level, organisations, private and public, can act positively in their own way.