COP27: What’s at stake regarding false solutions?

The document critiques the 'net zero' narrative, asserting that it relies on unproven carbon removals and offsets that allow polluters to continue emissions. It specifically highlights the risks of 'Nature Based Solutions' (NBS) leading to land grabbing in the Global South and the dangers of techno-fixes like BECCS and DACCS. The briefing details how the Article 6 'Rulebook' agreed at COP26 facilitates global carbon markets and warns that COP27 may further entrench these mechanisms. It concludes by advocating for 'real solutions' centered on a coordinated fossil fuel phase-out, food sovereignty, and Indigenous rights.

• The 'net zero' concept is described as a flawed framework that uses carbon removals and offsets to avoid reducing emissions at the source, effectively allowing high-emitting industries to maintain their business models.
• Nature Based Solutions (NBS) are characterized as a cover for corporate greenwashing and 'carbon neocolonialism' that threatens food sovereignty and leads to mass land grabbing, particularly affecting Indigenous and rural communities in the Global South.
• Techno-fixes and geoengineering, including Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) and Direct Air Capture (DAC), are presented as risky, unproven, and costly distractions that may be enshrined in global carbon markets via Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement.
• The agreement on Article 6 rules at COP26 in Glasgow is viewed as a failure that 'opens the floodgates' to global carbon markets, legitimizing the use of offsets to meet Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) without sufficient safeguarding measures.
• The REDD/+ programme is cited as a failed example of emission avoidance that has not met its deforestation goals and has instead increased corporate control over Indigenous and peasant lands.
• The document identifies specific risks associated with 'soil carbon farming,' noting that it allows agribusinesses to intensify industrial agriculture and use digital data platforms to dictate land use and promote patented seeds and pesticides.

APA

Masson, L., Shaw, S., Bhatnagar, D., Chandrasekaran, K., Onodera, Y., & Race, M. (2022). COP27: What’s at stake regarding false solutions? Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/COP27-Whats-at-stake-regarding-false-solutions__ONLINE.pdf

Chicago

Masson, Lise, Sara Shaw, Dipti Bhatnagar, Kirtana Chandrasekaran, Yuri Onodera, and Madeleine Race. COP27: What’s at stake regarding false solutions? Friends of the Earth International, 2022. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/COP27-Whats-at-stake-regarding-false-solutions__ONLINE.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Masson |first1=Lise |last2=Shaw |first2=Sara |last3=Bhatnagar |first3=Dipti |last4=Chandrasekaran |first4=Kirtana |last5=Onodera |first5=Yuri |last6=Race |first6=Madeleine |title=COP27: What’s at stake regarding false solutions? |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=November 2022 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/COP27-Whats-at-stake-regarding-false-solutions__ONLINE.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{masson2022cop27, author = {Masson, Lise and Shaw, Sara and Bhatnagar, Dipti and Chandrasekaran, Kirtana and Onodera, Yuri and Race, Madeleine}, title = {{COP27: What’s at stake regarding false solutions?}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2022}, month = nov, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/COP27-Whats-at-stake-regarding-false-solutions__ONLINE.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }