7 key climate commandments

By Jang Daul

The 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was held from Nov. 6 to 20 in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt, near Mount Sinai.

As Moses received the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, I would like to share key takeaways I thought of during the two-week participation in the COP27, often called the most important meeting for humanity.

1. Listen to what science says and act on it
Global warming is caused by human activities, mainly burning fossil fuels including coal, oil and gas. Global warming causes global climate change on a scale that humans have never experienced. The average global temperature has already increased by a little more than 1 degree Celsius. To prevent an irreversible climate disaster, we need to limit the global temperature increase within 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. To meet the 1.5 goal, the latest climate science recommends that we must halve carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon net zero by 2050 which requires a rapid and unprecedented transition.

2. There is a big gap
According to the UNFCCC's latest synthesis report, even if the 193 countries under the Paris Agreement meet their new targets, the global community is still on a pathway toward not 1.5 but 2.5 degrees Celsius of global heating by the end of the century. An independent scientific analysis by Climate Action Tracker also stresses that considering real-world actions, based on current policies, the world will see a global temperature rise of 2.7 degrees Celsius. To keep the 1.5 goal alive, member states of the Paris Agreement need to strengthen their climate action plans as soon as possible to fill the gap.

3. Do no harm to your neighbors
Many countries already suffered, suffer, and will suffer from the increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events under the impacts of climate change. For example, this year, one-third of Pakistan was submerged by historic flooding. The flooding affected more than 33 million people. Developing countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, South Asia, South America and the small island developing states in the Pacific Ocean are suffering more from climate change-induced extreme weather events.

4. If you harm your neighbors then be responsible
Major historical emitters are responsible for the apocalyptic conditions in Pakistan. The share of high-income countries in the cumulative carbon emissions (1750-2021) is 56 percent while that of low-income countries is only 0.6 percent. The U.S. and Europe share 55 percent of the responsibility. China alone is 14 percent accountable for the historical emissions. Countries need to be accountable for the climate impact in proportion to their contribution.

5. Either collective action or collective suicide
Therefore, developed countries need to reduce their carbon emissions faster than developing countries. Also, developed countries need to support climate finance for the mitigation and adaptation of developing countries. However, there is no way for the world to meet the 1.5 goal without substantial mitigation efforts by major developing economies. The G-20 nations including major developed and developing economies are responsible for 81 percent of the global carbon emissions in 2021. Moreover, the developing (non-OECD) states in the G-20 accounted for 63 percent of the total G-20 emissions in 2021. Therefore, we need to stop framing the global climate issue with the dichotomous approach of developed and developing countries. It is mainly the role of the G-20 to reduce their carbon emissions so as to avoid the global climate disaster. Without the collective action of G-20 countries, we will face collective suicide in the future as the U.N. secretary-general warned.

6. Keep it in the ground, just keep it in the ground
The main battle of the climate war is to phase out fossil fuels. The share of fossil fuels in the primary energy use of G-20 nations is still over 80 percent. To move toward carbon net zero by 2050, there should be no more new fossil fuel extraction projects. Even though COP27 failed to make further progress to commit to the 'phasing out all fossil fuels' from the 'phasing down coal' at COP26, climate-concerned people and civil society should not stop fighting to make fossil fuels history.

7. No more blah blah blah. Climate justice now
The fact that annual global greenhouse gas emissions have not yet shifted from increasing to decreasing is a simple inconvenient truth, which illustrates that humanity's response to the climate crisis over the past three decades has not been successful. If we stay at the current emissions level, we have a little less than seven years left until the global temperature increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius occurs. However, we should not give up but try to pressure our leaders and major emitting industries to stop talking and start acting on a rapid and far-reaching transition. As people on the climate frontline and global civil society shouted the most at COP27, "we are not drowning but we are fighting," and "the people united will never be defeated."

Jang Daul (daul.jang@greenpeace.org) is a government relations and advocacy specialist at Greenpeace East Asia Seoul Office.