The EU gave COP27 a small victory

Over the weekend, COP27 came to its ultimate conclusion. It was a climate summit beset by low expectations from the start and while it did exceed those expectations, it only did so by a small margin. In large part, that success came from a sudden change from the EU part-way through the negotiations.

Going into the summit, there had been increasing calls to tackle the issue of 'loss and damage'. This has been a longstanding demand of developing countries who argue that it's not enough for the wealthy countries to lead the way on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preventing more climate damage in the future. Climate change is already here today and many countries around the world are feeling its devastating effects. The floods in Pakistan earlier this year, which displaced millions of people and caused billions in damage to the country's buildings and infrastructure, served to underline the urgency of the situation and of a need for a remedy. As a result, developing countries argue that rich countries, who built their wealth on the massive exploitation of fossil fuels, have a historical responsibility for the climate change already underway and for supporting the countries suffering from its effects. 

Rich countries, for their part, have long resisted these calls. Wary of the potential cost of any admission of liability, the idea of climate compensation has been swiftly shut down at previous climate summits. 

Yet this year was different.

After the US and the EU initially held to their traditional opposition, the EU unexpectedly broke ranks and said it was willing to accept the principle of creating an international fund to deal with 'loss and damage' caused by climate change. 

Now, importantly this new fund would not be tied to liability from the rich countries involved. But it is a recognition that those who are feeling the greatest impact of climate change today are among the countries with the least ability to deal with the economic and human costs of climate disasters. 

It's also far from a done deal. The EU wants developing countries to reinforce their own efforts to combat climate change before benefiting from the fund. It also wants the donors to include countries who were classified as developing countries when these climate summits originally got underway but who are now very much in the rich country camp (places like South Korea or China). Notably there is no real agreement on how to find the money for this new support system. All we have now is an empty bucket. Still, it's an improvement on having no bucket at all and represents the necessary first step. 

And although a total admission of liability and an unconditionaly willingness to pay for the damage already caused would have been welcomed by the world's poorest countries, it would have required rich countries to undergo a Damascean level of revelation that was simply never likely. Indeed, reportedly some developing countries actually recognised this and were quite happy with the EU's offer, political pragmatism and all, even if fear of reprisal from China meant they were reluctant to defend it publicly. 

From the ashes of defeat, the EU was able to use its leverage and negotiating power to salvage some kind of notable achievement for COP27, creating a principle and opening gambit that gives some hope for further, more meaningful progress in the coming years. 

And as for 'Global Britain'? Some may recall talk last year that the UK could find its post-Brexit role by becoming a global broker for just this kind of international forum (of which this was just one example). Yet while the idea seemed to come into its own when Britain was handed both the presidencies of the G7 and of COP in a single year, since then it has felt less and less relevant. Far from sitting at the intersection of the world and balancing different interests to help form global deals and alliances, the UK's international role has fallen away significantly. Beset by domestic turmoil, it was up for debate whether the UK Prime Minister would even bother attending this year's climate summit, let alone manage to forge an international compromise. That Sunak ultimately did attend did little to change the reality of a country that has only limited time and resources devoted to the international sphere. Where called upon in COP27, the UK mostly did little more than match the established Western or European position. 

That hardline Brexiteers, being among the most cynical and sceptical in UK politics when it comes to international climate efforts, only serve to undermine this country's ability to at least project an image of 'Global Britain' simply adds an extra layer of irony.