No decision better than a bad decision at COP27 climate talks, EU climate chief says

The European Union would rather walk away from COP27 climate summit with no decision than it make a bad decision, its climate chief said on Saturday.

The bloc has been one of the main characters at the United Nations climate talks in Egypt, which have already spilled into extra time.

The clock is ticking to strike a political deal that would bring together two weeks of fraught negotiations between almost 200 countries, with a new draft of an agreement expected on Saturday morning.

The EU’s climate chief Frans Timmermans today told reporters that a “good decision is within reach, but all partners will have to work very hard to make that possible”.

Yet he warned: “We want a good decision, but it’s better to have no decision than a bad decision.”

He added: “We do not want 1.5 Celsius to die here and today, that to us is completely unacceptable.”

The key outstanding issues are whether the text goes further than a previous commitment to phase down coal and expand it to all fossil fuels.

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There is also a battle around the target to limit warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, crucial to the Glasgow climate pact from COP26 last year.

Saudi Arabia, China and Russia want to fall back on older language from the Paris Agreement, which allows wiggle room to 2C, according to two sources who have been in the negotiating rooms.

Since the Paris climate accord was struck in 2015, scientists have realised the dangerous impacts of climate change are worse than they had projected at latitudes where temperatures are lower.

But everything hinges on the salient issue of who pays for climate damages in vulnerable countries.

It is a matter of justice and fairness, say developing countries, as crystallised this year by the deadly flooding in Pakistan.

The south Asian nation is responsible for around 1% of global emissions but is facing a $30bn clean-up bill from the flooding alone.

Countries are still all holding out for their best version of a fund to pay for the damages, and may then be willing to give ground, or reveal their hand, on the other topics once that has been agreed.

It has boiled down to a few key proposals: one led by the EU, one by Pakistan on behalf of developing nations and a new one overnight led by the UK but with support from the United States, Sky News understands.

It is common for COP climate summits to run past the deadline into the final weekend, but host nation Egypt has faced criticism for allowing things to run so close to the wire, in spite of praise for the skill and experience of its diplomats.

The team in charge only produced the first version of the draft deal on Friday morning, with just hours left until the summit was due to close.

On Saturday, Egypt’s foreign minister Sameh Shoukry defended its presidency, saying it had been “fully involved”.

“The issue now rests with the will of the parties. It is the parties who must rise to the occasion and take upon themselves the responsibility of finding the areas of convergence,” he said.

This vast geopolitical forum is a fight for the narrative as well as outcomes, with no country wanting to end up with the blame if things fall through.

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