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'Often criticized, COPs remain useful', an interview with BAB Magazine

A crucial event for the climate, COP 27 was held from November 6 to 20 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Philippe Drobinski, Patricia Crifo and Nicolas Mottis, three experts from the Ecole Polytechnique in France, draw the first lessons of this meeting and the major global issues of climate change.

BAB: Why is COP 27 seen as a last chance COP? Philippe Drobinski: Negotiations punctuated by COPs must lift the locks as quickly as possible in view of the climate emergency. It is clear that while progress was made at COP 26, it was not a success with emissions trajectories outside the range needed to keep global warming below 2°C. Nonetheless, fossil fuels were explicitly mentioned (accelerate efforts towards phasing out coal-fired power and phasing out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies). Implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on rules for establishing agreements for carbon markets was discussed. During COP 26, 80 countries, including the European Union and the United States, committed to a 30% reduction in methane emissions by 2030, 100 countries representing 85% of the world's forests committed to ending deforestation by 2030. The United States and China committed to "enhanced climate action" in a cooperative imperative, but the global geopolitical context overrode this commitment, which China suspended. During the COP 26, the dialogue was initiated on the notion of "loss and damage" and should extend until 2024 to discuss the modalities of financing. At COP 27, this is a central topic. The deviation of carbon emissions from the trajectory to keep climate change below 2°C has also led States to revise their targets at COP 27 (2-year cycle) instead of the 5 years provided for in the Paris Agreement.

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