”The impacts of climate change are here now, and the loss & damage they cause can no longer be ignored. [We] must agree on a clear, time-bound roadmap reflective of the scale and urgency of the challenge. It’s a moral imperative and a question of solidarity and climate justice.” Antonio Guterres
World leaders gathering in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, officially kicked off the two-week COP27 with a two-day Leader’s Summit. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ message at the Summit was that we are in a battle for human survival and, as yet, are not showing the resolve to change course.
- The current level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is 421 parts per million, and we have just come out of one of the hottest summers on record.
- The Paris Agreement calls for countries to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius by century’s end, and currently, global temperature arena as global temperatures have risen 1.15%. To meet this goal we need to achieve net zero GHG emissions by 2050.
- Only 24 of the 193 parties to the Paris climate agreement have submitted more ambitious targets since last year’s COP26 in Scotland.
As Guterres says we have “our foot on the accelerator.”
“It is either a Climate Solidarity Pact – or a Collective Suicide Pact,” he said.
A roundup of Day One (The Guardian)
On a jam-packed first day, we heard from António Guterres, the UN secretary general, who dramatically proclaimed that we are on the “highway to climate hell”. We also heard an enthusiastic and bombastic speech from the former prime minister Boris Johnson – and a rather tepid and uninspiring one from the current prime minister, Rishi Sunak. Climate reparations and financing for loss and damage was a main theme of the day, and is likely to be so for the fortnight to come, as those from the countries most affected by climate change ask for the help of carbon-spewing richer nations. Here’s a short summary of what happened.
COP27’s theme, #TogetherForImplementation, is encouraging signatories to the Paris Agreement to deliver results, not targets and stressing accountability to foster implementation, tweets Catherine Abreu, Founder & Executive Director of Destination Zero.
As Vox reports climate change isn’t the only thing on negotiator’s minds at this year’s summit:
Inflation, conflict, food shortages, supply chain snarls, rising energy prices, and still, the Covid-19 pandemic are also present concerns, even if they aren’t specifically on the agenda. That’s likely to impair the push for more aggressive cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
The United States is awaiting the outcome of midterm elections that could speed up or stall its climate change efforts. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting energy crisis has led countries like Germany to restart coal power plants, while fuel shortages are driving up demand for more mining and drilling for fossil fuels. Inflation worries have tempered efforts to deploy clean energy in Canada, while China approved more than 15 gigawatts in new coal-fired power generation. Driving and flying are also up compared to 2021.
Developing countries experiencing the worst effects of climate change will aim to obtain financial help from rich nations responsible for the biggest share of emissions.
Al Jazeera has compiled an excellent resource for understanding the backstory to COP27.