COP27 winners and losers

World leaders and climate warriors will soon be departing from the Egyptian resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh, closing out this year’s COP27 climate summit. So what have been the key takeaways from the event?

Eurasia Group’s Franck Gbaguidi sat down with climate expert Alessandro Vitelli to reflect on the central themes they encountered at COP27. For Gbaguidi, it was all about accountability. There was a “focus on breaking down the data, breaking down the figures, giving some of the timeline and checking intermediate milestones,” he said. And because this year’s COP was all about implementing earlier agreements, Vitelli explained, much of the talk focused on process, legalese, and new tech solutions.

Many headlines have also focused on the “loss and damage” issue with developing countries demanding that wealthier nations — those that have contributed the most to climate change — pay countries struggling in the face of environmental disasters. Progress on that front “has been slow … but at least it's in the agenda and that means that this conversation is really top of mind for everyone,” Ggabuidi said. While the talks carried on past Friday’s deadline, little is likely to be accomplished by the end of this year’s summit. But moving forward, Ggabuidi added, “I think it will be revisited in later COPs probably with bigger announcements in terms of facilities and pledges.”