UN Women’s Susanne Mikhail Eldhagen On The ‘Loss And Damage’ Future Of Planet Earth
The UN Women Regional Director for the Arab States and Bazaar Arabia columnist, sees – in the face of dire environmental shifts – a glimmer of hope in the wake of CoP27
We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator,” said Antonio Guterres, the United Nations Secretary-General, at CoP27 last month in Egypt. I have heard Antonio speak on several occasions over the years, and with his strong humanitarian background I know he has seen a lot. Undoubtedly he has seen hell up close, and clearly, he knows what the word means in relation to human misery in a brutal reality.
So, when Antonio spoke of hell, only meters away from leaders gathered from all over the world, the audience paid attention. The sense of diminished patience was equally persistent amongst the following speakers taking the podium. Referencing the higher frequency and intensity of climate-related disasters such as the expanding drought in the Horn of Africa, that might lead to famine in the coming weeks.
Then there is the intensifying water scarcity in our own region, expressed clearly by King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, where the water share per capita has decreased by 80 per cent. The issue of water scarcity was echoed by most national statements from the Arab region, including Iraq and Palestine. And let’s not forget the suffocating pollution facing the planet, that former US Vice President and renowned environmentalist, Al Gore, cited as killing over 8.7 million people – on a yearly basis.
Leader after leader from the global south identified the price being paid on a human level, financial level and developmental level – by those not necessarily producing the most emissions. So already, during the first few days of CoP 27, it was clear that the concept of ‘compensation’ – which for a long time had been a controversial subject – was emerging as a potential reality.
Throughout the two weeks, references to compensation for environmental ravage – in technical climate language dubbed as “loss and damage” were increasingly present in the negotiation rooms and the corridors of the conference centre in Sharm el Sheikh. Then in the early hours of Saturday morning, well past the Friday night deadline, exhausted negotiators finally agreed on the establishment of a Loss and Damage Fund.
“We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator,”
Antonio Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General
The practicalities of this fund – including the organisational structure, the trigger for payout, and the actual sums – are still to be determined prior to or within CoP 28, which will take place next November in Dubai. But the fact that it will be established is a fundamental shift for the entire world. If major emission producers are clear that environmental damage might become expensive, there may be hope for a faster transition to green, renewable energy.
Maybe, this could be part of the solution to ease that suffocating pressure. To lighten the weight. And to finally lift our foot off the accelerator.
From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s December 2022 issue.