The Bristol climate experts who went to COP27 on its outcomes

A new edition of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, COP27, took place in November in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

It brought together world leaders to discuss action to tackle climate change following a year of climate-related disasters and broken temperature records.

COP27 made history when the loss and damage fund was agreed, a victory for climate-vulnerable developing countries.

But controversies encircled the environmental summit, from lobbying, sponsoring and attendance by people flying across to world to Africa. This included Bristol mayor Marvin Rees, who was criticised in June for travelling 4,600 miles to give a Ted talk on the climate crisis.

Bristol24/7 spoke to University of Bristol climate researchers Rachel James, Colin Nolden and Alix Dietzel, who went to COP27, to understand how successful the summit really was.

What were the main outcomes of COP27? 

About the loss and damage fund, James, a specialist in the advancement of climate science and policy, said: “This is a huge shift. Developing countries have been calling for this for 30 years. Many thought it would never happen. So in terms of loss and damage, there has been a big shift in political will.”

Dietzel, associate director for impact and innovation at the Cabot Institute for the Environment agreed on the importance of this advance, but said there is room to be cautious.

“There is some good news in the form of a new fund for loss and damage – but there is no agreement yet on how much money should be paid in, by whom, and on what basis,” she explained.

“The broad idea of a fund for loss and damage is to have funding available to support mainly developing countries who suffer loss and damage from climate change. This could be related to negative impacts of climate change such as from flooding, tropical cyclones, drought, or sea level rise,” added James.

A global climate action march in Bristol – photo: Martin Booth

Downsides of the summit were the lack of convincing and sufficient action in fields like fossil fuels and cutting down emissions, two of the most significant obstacles to limiting global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, according to the Bristol experts.

“Nothing new was agreed, and as I say above the outcome was very disappointing. Of course, the limit still makes sense but it is becoming increasingly difficult to achieve,” Alix Dietzel.

James said: “Many were hoping that the language would be strengthened. This year, many were hoping for more ambition there – a ‘phaseout’ of all fossil fuels. But this proved too challenging to include, and the language has not strengthened since Glasgow, it’s still ‘phasedown’ coal with no explicit mention of oil and gas.’

The importance of language, James explained, lies in the influence it plays in national and local policies, ass well as sending signals to businesses with greater clarity about the long-term plans for reducing emissions.

“COP27 produced a text that clearly protects oil, gas, petro-states, and the fossil fuel industry. The final outcomes demonstrate despite the thousands who were there to advocate for climate justice, it was the fossil fuel lobby who had the most influence,” added Alix.

What is the UK’s role in climate change?

The UK has contributed to historical global emissions amounting up to five per cent, making the country the fifth polluter in history.

James said: “What is clear is that the UK has contributed a large proportion of greenhouse gas emissions, since the industrial revolution, and still today. We know that all of the warming that has been observed in recent decades is due to human greenhouse gas emissions.”

“And we can also show that human greenhouse gas emissions have increased the severity of extreme weather events around the world, so the UK has contributed to loss and damage from climate change experienced in the global south,” extended Rachel.

Is Bristol doing enough to push for change beyond international targets?

Nolden, a researcher in energy and climate policy, believes that Bristol is taking “significant” steps towards net zero goals through ambitious investment in programmes like City Leap.

“If it can deliver on its promises, Bristol’s City Leap project would be a significant step towards decarbonising Bristol’s economy. It aims to channel £424m of private investment into improving the efficiency of our social housing stock, developing district heating networks, decarbonising the public sector and installing renewable energy technologies, thereby creating jobs and a lead market for skills and investment for net zero,” he explained.

However, Nolden stated the need for decentralisation as a prerequisite for local powers, otherwise they could keep on depending on national policy.

“In the absence of greater decentralisation on matters such as taxes, national policy will largely determine the capacity for the UK generally, and Bristol specifically, to act on climate change,” he said.

The researcher lamented that another COP has passed adequate commitments weren’t raised that urgently tackle the climate emergency.

“We have seen plenty of target setting in recent decades and especially in recent years. However, they remain largely symbolic in the absence of mechanisms to share the effort of achieving them,” Nolden said.

Dietzel echoed this, saying: “As a climate justice scholar, I am deeply worried about the processes at COPs, especially given next year’s destination: The United Arab Emirates”

“Time is running out and watered-down commitments on emissions are at this stage deeply unjust and frankly dangerous,” she added.

This piece of independent journalism is supported by NatWest and the Bristol24/7 public and business membership

Main photo: Simone J Rudolphi

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• Council’s climate emergency action plan criticised 
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• Inside a Just Stop Oil meeting in Bristol 
• Tackling the big questions climate change poses 

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