The issue of ‘waste and damage’ is still pressing at COP27, especially how to compensate poor countries affected by climate change.
US Ambassador John Kerry tested positive for COVID-19 at the United Nations summit in Egypt, where negotiators were working to address the loss and financial loss of developing countries affected by climate disasters.
Kerry’s illness has added to concerns over the talks, which were due to end on Friday but have dragged on without a clear conclusion.
Discussions at the COP27 conference at the Red Sea Resort in Sharm el-Sheikh have stumbled over the controversial issue of “wasting and wasting” funds from underdeveloped countries to tackle the challenges of climate change.
“He is fully immunized and encouraged and is experiencing mild symptoms. He is working with his negotiating team with his foreign counterparts by phone to ensure that COP27 goes smoothly,” Kerry’s spokeswoman Whitney Smith wrote in a statement on Friday.
Loss and damage remain a key issue between rich and poor countries, particularly the issue of how to compensate countries already damaged by extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, hurricanes and wildfires.
Discussions, especially the public ones, were disrupted by Friday evening as press conferences and plenaries were suspended or cancelled. Diplomats said they hoped for progress by midnight as they changed bookings for longer talks on Saturday.
“I think we’re almost there,” said David Waskow, director of the World Resources Institute.
“Loss and damages are among the things that need to be done to make this happen,” he said.
As discussions continue in the final hours of the meeting, #COP27 President Sameh Shoukry is a climate activist in Ghana @nakeeyat urging the country to take decisive and urgent action in its favour #ClimateAction.#AchievementTogether pic.twitter.com/tMjZRQAMns
– COP27 (@COP27P) November 18, 2022
Representatives from nearly 200 countries have gathered at COP27 in Egypt for two weeks with the aim of advancing climate change as the world faces a major climate crisis.
For many vulnerable countries, loss and damage is a major problem for the conference, while others say the success of the conference depends on the establishment of a specific fund.
Rich countries, which in the past have faced the problem of compensation because of the potential fear, they have agreed that countries facing increasing climate-related problems need financial assistance. However, they called for more donor groups and prioritizing climate-vulnerable countries as recipients.
Developed countries are also keen to focus on other critical issues, such as reaching an agreement on emissions reduction targets and reconfirming the goal of reducing temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, which scientists say is a precautionary measure to avoid the worst climate impacts in the future.
A spate of climate-related events in recent months – from floods in Pakistan and Nigeria to tropical storms and droughts around the world – has highlighted the negative effects of a warming world on developing economies, as well as small islands threatened by rising tides. the sea.
The Group of 77 and China, an alliance of 134 developing countries, launched an opening and bankruptcy this week, with the idea of creating a fund at COP27 and what will be agreed later.
Pakistan’s Climate Minister Sherry Rehman, who chairs the G77 + China, told delegates on Friday that they wanted to “find consensus” on the proposed fund.
The European Union agreement, which was approved at the end of Thursday, strengthened the fund for the most vulnerable countries by saying that the money will come from the “funding base” – rules of countries including China and Saudi Arabia that have been rich since it was written. like developed countries in 1992.
“I have to say that this is the end,” European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans told reporters on Friday morning.
Even with the new commitment, the world is expected to warm by about 2.5C by the end of this century – enough, scientists say, to trigger a dangerous climate zone.
