COP27 frustration — but a silver lining

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The 27th United Nations climate conference (COP27) ended on Sunday morning with researchers largely frustrated by the lack of ambition to turn away ful-ly from fossil fuels.

• The energy crisis sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine loomed large, leading European countries to vacillate on promises to quash investment in fossil fuels.

• New wording was added to the final agreement calling for accelerated development of “low-emission” energy systems, which many fear will be used to justify further natural-gas development.

The silver lining: delegates from low- and middle-income countries came away with an agreement on a new ‘loss and damage’ fund to help them cover the costs of climate-change impacts.

• The European Union proved central when it pivoted to support the fund, putting pressure on the United States, which has long opposed anything that might leave it financially liable for its enormous historical emissions.

• In a first for a climate COP, the final text backs reform of giant lenders such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which are lynchpins of the global economy.

The COP27 deal also says that “safeguarding food security and ending hunger” is a fundamental priority. “There is real progress in terms of words,” says agricultural economist Joachim von Braun.

Nature | 6 min read

THE LAST DAYS OF COP27

As COP27’s Friday deadline turned into Sunday morning and workers dismantled the conference pavilions around them, negotiators pushed themselves to the limit to achieve a flawed but historic agreement. “We got there,” said an ecstatic Saleemul Huq, the director of the International Center for Climate Change and Development in Bangladesh.

The huge event often felt like a cynical cross between a circus and a trade show. But the actual negotiations — at least those not behind closed doors — for the most part came across as heartfelt, determined and gruelling for the delegates involved.

Outside the negotiating rooms, the conference was already being wiped off the map. The hundreds of free, lusciously painted electric and natural-gas buses that had plied the resort town’s roads vanished overnight. It was a visible reminder that good intentions can evaporate all too quickly.

For the first time, a mention of “tipping points” was included in the final text. These are abrupt and irreversible shifts in the Earth system — such as the loss of the Amazon rainforest or the West Antarctic ice sheet — that could have cascading negative effects on the planet’s habitability. How much COP27’s muted achievements will tip the scales towards a better future remains to be seen. British–Egyptian pro-democracy activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, whose hunger strike focused a spotlight on human rights in Egypt during the conference, remains in prison — though alive. And so, on many fronts, the work continues.

Flora Graham, Senior Editor, Nature Briefing

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Nature | 6 min read

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Nature | 5 min read

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Nature | 4 min read

Features & opinion

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Nature | 4 min read

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Image of the week

The Orion space capsule hitching a ride on NASA’s SLS rocket — a combo known by the mission moniker Artemis I — has snapped this selfie on its way to journey around the Moon. “Each of Orion’s four solar array wings has a commercial off-the-shelf camera mounted at the tip that has been highly modified for use in space” says David Melendrez, imagery integration lead for the Orion Program at NASA. (Credit: NASA)