ICC Secretary General: COP27 has left 1.5°C on ‘life support’

International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) secretary general John WH Denton has released a statement arguing that COP27 fell far short of expectations from business. “If Glasgow succeeded in ‘keeping 1.5 alive’, that goal sadly leaves Sharm-El-Sheikh on life support. COP27 could have delivered much more for business and far more for the planet,” he said. Denton noted that while there were positive signs, such as the loss and damage fund and the progress on emissions trading rules, “the implementation decisions on Article 6 ultimately fall short of creating the robust and transparent systems that the private sector needs to accelerate investment in a net-zero future”. Denton suggests that implementing the Paris Agreement is dependent on how financing conditions in developing countries are managed: “Our conclusion is that implementation of the Paris Agreement now hinges on the whether the G20 can finally forge a comprehensive action plan to tackle emerging market debt – and, moreover, dramatically scale the availability of concessional financing from development banks.”