Wageningen climate experts reflect on COP27

Tim van Hattum, who followed the COP27 from the Netherlands, looked forward to solutions to the climate issue. But he was disappointed. ‘The overall conclusion is disappointing. No concrete agreements on how to achieve the 1.5-degree goal were reached. The focus was on the loss and damage fund. It is essential to ensure investments to mitigate the damages as much as possible. The truly important agreements were pushed to next year. We don’t have that kind of time.’

Still, Van Hattum sees positive points: ‘There is an increasing focus on nature as a solution to the climate issue. The climate and biodiversity crises must be addressed in conjunction with one another. In addition to significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, there is an increasing focus on nature conservation and recovery.’

Tim van Hattum, who followed the COP27 from the Netherlands, was looking forward to solutions to the climate issue and saw some positive developments: ‘There is an increasing focus on nature as a solution to the climate issue. The climate and biodiversity crises must be addressed in conjunction with one another. In addition to significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, there is an increasing focus on nature conservation and recovery.’

In the corridors of the Egyptian summit, there were whispers of nature-based solutions being included in the COP27 concluding statement. That is a crucial sign for the COP15 (Biodiversity conference), which is to take place in Montreal next month and which focuses on reaching global agreements on the recovery of biodiversity.’

Food system

And another positive: the role of the food system featured prominently on the agenda for the first time, Van Hattum adds. ‘The food system is an important contributor to the climate and biodiversity crises. A transition of our global food system is thus an essential part of the solution. At the COP, WUR presented our perspective on a nature-positive food system. Both the roles of the food system and nature-based solutions will gain importance in the coming COPs, in which WUR is one of the “thought leaders”.’

Finally, climate adaptation is moving up on the international agenda, according to Van Hattum. ‘The consequences of climate change are visible across the globe. Expertise and money are needed to improve the climate resilience of urban areas and agriculture worldwide. Adapting to increasingly extreme weather is urgent, as is drastically reducing the emission of greenhouse gasses. There too, nature-based solutions play a crucial role. Nature is our first line of defence against climate extremes.’

Link between climate, water, food and biodiversity

Ivo Demmers was physically present in Egypt. In his blog preceding the COP27, he indicated that he was mainly focused on fortifying the link between climate, water, food and biodiversity in the actions that result from the summit. Demmers: 'In collaboration with the Asian Mega Deltas programme CGIAR, we illuminated the importance of transitions in the three deltas where these three elements converge. This was a wonderful, genuinely interactive session.'

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Resilience

Resilience includes the contribution of food systems to mitigation (combating climate change). Demmers continues: ‘The need and possibilities to sequester extra carbon in the soil were taken into consideration on several occasions during the summit (for example by Johan Rockstrom in the COP27 side event: Delivering climate resilient food systems during multiple crises and fragility and the COP27 side event: Climate- and Water-Smart Agriculture: From the Netherlands and Egypt to the World). Water could be a significant limiting factor, the session in which the link with the UN Water Conference in 2023 was placed centre stage showed.’

Demmers noted that the role of the younger generation has become more significant and was noticeable in many sessions. ‘Local administrations do not yet have sufficient faith in the younger generation, according to Stephen Bright Sakwa (COP27 side event: Youth Initiatives in Nature-based Solutions - WUR). But his colleague Samantha Natumanya for the Bees4hope team (finalist Nature Based Solutions Challenge - WUR) called on youths to act and to draw hope from all that is already being done.’