Sharm el-Sheikh: Hope for an “African” COP?
On the upcoming date of November 6, the Egyptian resort of Sharm
el-Sheikh will be hosting the annual United Nations Climate Change
Conference (COP27). As at other summits, great expectations and deep doubts about the true ecological commitment of the international community in turbulent times will be converging.
November 04, 2022
SHARM EL-SHEIJ
Although this is not the first time a COP has been held in the Arab world (think back to the COP22 in Marrakesh and COP18 in Doha), Egypt’s presidency this year comes at a critical time. The horrific floods in Pakistan that have inundated a third of the country and the summer of record temperatures that devastated hundreds of acres of forests across Europe (to cite just two very recent events) remind us that the climate crisis is not science fiction, setting a dangerous precedent for the immediate future.
The outcome of COP26 in Glasgow 2021 was regarded as a failure in terms of the two main objectives originally set: limiting global warming to 1.5℃ by 2030 and the end of the use of coal. And the current international situation has not helped: the COVID-19 pandemic has given way to the war in Ukraine, inflation and the energy crises, and with it the collective inertia -and even a clear environmental setback with increased use of fossil fuels- seemingly drawing humanity closer to a climate catastrophe.
A hopeful COP?
Some signs point towards Sharm el-Sheikh becoming an “implementation COP,” with special emphasis on climate finance and the need to define the terms “damage and harm.” The summit is being sold as an “African” COP, but skeptics wonder how this will translate in practice, as many activists from across Africa will be unable to attend the summit, making the approach more top-down than horizontal.
Concerns have also been raised that the talks could be dominated by large role-players on the continent like Morocco, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia and Nigeria, countries which are also major sources of fossil fuel emissions in Africa, thus marginalizing smaller players.
The truth is that the COP27 summit, to be followed by COP28 in the United Arab Emirates in 2023, is an opportunity for the MENA region to become a player in global climate diplomacy.
Opportunism or transition
The region has not traditionally been a focal point for debate: neither governments there nor Arab civil societies have been at the forefront, and they often downplay the effects of climate change. As in many other areas, the Arab world’s 22 countries do not constitute a homogeneous bloc and there are important intra-regional differences in their strategies regarding the ecological transition, starting with differences in energy resources and emissions.
However, the region’s elites have become increasingly interested in seizing the opportunities presented by the green economy. Egypt, for example, would like to portray itself as a transit hub for electricity grids, in addition to its key position in shipping in the eastern Mediterranean, while presenting itself to Europe as a bulwark for energy security now that Moscow has fallen out of favor. Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia also offer alternatives, and liquefied gas from Qatar has remained a lifeline for the EU since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis.
Given this state of affairs, COP27 will surely include great declarations of principles by world leaders, along with a fair dose of intense intra-regional competition and new partnerships, and disappointments amongst the smallest, most affected role-players. The only certainty is that awareness of this issue for all of humanity is on the rise, just like global temperatures.