Ramblings of a 70-year old: COP27 Climate Talks

Showing posts with label COP27 Climate Talks. Show all posts

Monday, November 14, 2022

Climate change has a direct impact on survival of insects who are necessary to maintain the ecological balance

The natural reaction when one sees an insect is of disgust. It reflects the feelings against the whole kingdom of insects. These include cockroaches, mosquitoes and creepy-crawlies of all kinds. However, ecologists say the decline in the population of insects is a matter of concern. It seems there are nearly 5.5 million species of insects on planet Earth. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet and account for nearly 80 percent of animal life on earth. The worst part is that both the number and diversity of insects are declining around the globe. These are attributed to loss of habitat, pollution and climate change. A paper published before the ongoing COP27 commenced warns about possible consequences. These could include limiting the chances of a sustainable future with healthy ecosystems. A fading buzz: Editorial on impact of climate change on insects. The paper adds that fruit flies, butterflies, and flour beetles can survive heat waves, but are sterilised and unable to reproduce. They become zombies, the “living dead.”

The reasons for their disappearance are excessive use of pesticide by farmers, rising global temperatures, habitat fragmentation and destruction and so on. The consequences of their annihilation would be drastic. This us because insects enable plants to reproduce, through pollination, and form the base of the food pyramid. One of the fundamental mechanisms that made life on earth possible is insect-borne pollination among flowers and food crops. This is now in peril by this unfolding entomological disaster. Incidentally, species higher up the food chain get a greater attention of scientists, conservators as well as policymakers. Delegates at the COP27 will wrestle with funding, emission cuts, sustainable development goals etcetera. Their agenda should include reducing the use of pesticides.

Wednesday, November 9, 2022

Egypt is building the “Green River” - a giant belt of lakes and parks deep in the desert

The “Green River” will come up on the easternmost outskirts of Cairo. The government of Egypt plans to build a giant belt of lakes and parks deep in the desert. Once completed, it will cut through Egypt’s brand new, ultra-modern metropolis: the New Administrative Capital. A digital simulation shows the “river” extending throughout the length of the New Capital branching out into smaller lakes and pools. This video five years ago by Egypt’s prime minister depicted lush riverbanks dotted with trees and occupying vast landscapes of greenery. This was in spite of the fact that the site is in the middle of a desert and there is no natural sources of water nearby. Incidentally, this oasis will come up in the midst of a worsening climate crisis. The problems magnify with increase in temperature, population, and water scarcity. This is a critical concern for Egypt, host of this year’s COP27 climate summit. Under the circumstances, universal access to clean water is the country’s top priority. The authorities have repeatedly sounded alarms over the country’s water problems. Egypt faces an acute water crisis, but it’s building a ‘Green River’ in the desert. Egypt’s population now stands at 104 million and most of it is crowded along the narrow Nile River. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi recently said the country’s water resources could no longer meet the needs of the rapidly growing population. He noted that his government was taking strategic steps to conserve the water supply. He also mentioned about launching a new initiative called “Water Adaptation and Resilience” in collaboration with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) at COP27.

Egypt needs an estimated 114 billion cubic meters of water per year. It means the country has to evolve methods to bridge the gap with groundwater, rainfall and treated wastewater. Saker El Nour is an Egyptian sociologist who researches agrarian issues, rural poverty and the environment in Arab countries. He admitted to a section of the media - “We are in a dry area, and so we don’t have enough rain and our main source of water is the Nile. This will get worse with climate change.” Obviously, Egypt has to think out of the box. Experts put the blame on the government’s own water management strategies. These are contributing to its pressing water crisis. On top of that, the Green River project is a luxurious project that envisages an artificial body of water that will mimic the Nile and become a key centerpiece of the New Capital project. It certainly has its plus points but the average farmer is still struggling to find enough water to sustain small plots of land, which for many represent their main source of income.

Monday, November 7, 2022

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cautions planet Earth is on "the highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator"

The COP27 summit kicked off in Egypt and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cautioned that planet Earth is on shaky ground. He used strong words and said our planet is on “the highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator." This summit is follows a year of violent effects of climate change. He quoted the examples of catastrophic flooding that killed more than 1,700 people in Pakistan and uprooted 1.3 million from their homes in Nigeria. He also mentioned about drought and withered crops in Europe, large scale starvation in Africa, and loss of fish from California to France to China. These are results of rise in emissions and global warming. In his words - "Humanity has a choice: cooperate or perish." Those present in the room included heads of state. They were Europe's Ursula von der Leyen, France's Emmanuel Macron and Colombia's Gustavo Francisco. The main purpose of the summit in Sharm el-Sheikh was to inject momentum into the two-week talks. Nearly 200 countries hope to agree on the collective steps necessary to slow climate breakdown. Antonio Guterres said - failing to work together will amount to a "collective suicide pact." COP27: Agree on climate action or face a 'collective suicide pact' - UN chief's ultimatum to world leaders.

Already the world faces fierce geopolitical tensions. These are due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, followed by subsequent food, energy and cost of living crises, and arguments over who should pay for the increasingly damaging impacts of climate change. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the conflict and soaring energy prices are "not a reason to go slow on climate change, they are a reason to act faster." In his words - "Climate security goes hand in hand with energy security." The PM did publicly thank Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el Sisi for his "leadership" at the talks. Simultaneously, he is pressing the Egyptian leader to release imprisoned British-Egyptian political activist Alaa Abd el Fattah. President Sisi was one of many to urge an end to the war in Ukraine. "This war must stop," he said in an emotive plea, adding that not just Egypt but likely the "entire world" was suffering as a result. However, the talks did offer some rays of hope. This is the first time that the concept of compensation made it to the agenda. This was to compensate countries for irreversible losses inflicted by climate change. Examples are - the loss of lives, collapse of jobs and sinking of islands.

Friday, November 4, 2022

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres wants COP27 to close the ambition gap, the credibility gap and the solidarity gap

Speaking ahead of the COP27 climate summit in Egypt, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said the rich countries have a major responsibility. They must come forward and extend help to emerging economies to hasten their transition to renewable energy. UNSG goes on to say, unless the rich countries sign such a pact with poor countries on the climate, "we will be doomed." He adds - "COP27 must be the place to close the ambition gap, the credibility gap and the solidarity gap.” The points on the agenda should be to cut down on emissions, boost climate resilience and adaptation. They must also keep the promise on climate finance and address loss and damage from climate change. In fact, the former have emitted more than their share of heat-trapping carbon dioxide. They have done this by burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas. On the other hand, in poorer countries like Pakistan, recent floods affected 33 million people. They have suffered more damage than their share of carbon emissions. https://news.sky.com/story/un-secretary-general-calls-for-climate-deal-between-rich-and-poor-countries-12738657.

Following last year's COP26 in Glasgow, the UN Environment Programme estimated that developing countries needed $70bn a year for adaptation. This figure could double by 2030. At the summit, poorer nations again requested developed countries to extend financial help. They needed these as compensation against irreparable climate-related damage. However, COP26 ended without a resolution. The commitment of $356m fell far short of expectations. The wealthy nations rejected the fund. UNSG Mr. Guterres said that getting "concrete results" on loss and damage is the "litmus test of the commitment of the governments" involved in the summit. He went on to add - "Loss and damage have been the always-postponed issue. There is no more time to postpone it.”

Thursday, November 3, 2022

UNESCO predicts the world famous glaciers might disappear by 2050 due to global warming

The United Nations cultural agency UNESCO monitors more than 18,000 glaciers across 50 of its World Heritage sites. It mentions Mount Kilimanjaro apart from the Dolomites in Italy and the Yosemite and Yellowstone parks in the US. The prediction of UNESCO could have serious repercussion. It predicts that around 50 percent of World Heritage glaciers could almost entirely disappear unless the world takes corrective action. It may be possible to preserve them by keeping global temperature rise below 1.5C. UNESCO says World Heritage glaciers make up around 10 percent of the world's glacier areas overall. The worst part is that the world's best-known glaciers are gradually disappearing. That would be a major loss for global tourism. The report's lead author is Tales Carvalho. He estimates that World Heritage glaciers lose around 58 billion tonnes of ice every year on an average. In other words, the loss is equivalent to the total annual volume of water used in France and Spain together. It contributes to almost 5 percent of the global observed sea-level rise. Major glaciers including Mount Kilimanjaro and Dolomites to disappear by 2050, UN report says.

He adds that in order to prevent major glacier retreat worldwide it is necessary to reduce carbon emissions. UNESCO wants local authorities to make glaciers a focus of policy. They can achieve this by improving monitoring and research. They can also implement different measures of risk reduction. Tales Carvalho cautions - "As glacier lakes fill up, they can burst and can cause catastrophic floods downstream.” The timing of the report coincides with the COP27 event in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. It would be Africa's first UN climate conference in six years. Incidentally, a recent study found that glaciers in Switzerland lost half of their volume in less than a century. Moreover, the rate of retreat of ice is on the rise. This is a matter of concern.

Tuesday, November 1, 2022

Greta Thunberg will not join the COP27 summit in Egypt

Climate activist Greta Thunberg will not be a part of COP27 summit at Sharm el Sheikh tourist spot in Egypt. She disapproves of the country’s human rights record. In fact, she accused the forthcoming UN conference of being "held in a tourist paradise in a country that violates many basic human rights." She attended the earlier 2019 COP25 summit in Madrid when she was just 16. Later, she was there in the 2021 COP26 event in Glasgow. There was no conference in 2020 because of the pandemic. However, she has indicated she will not be attending this year’s COP27. She denounced it as an opportunity for "greenwashing, lying and cheating." In her words - "I'm not going to COP27 for many reasons, but the space for civil society this year is extremely limited.” She revealed this while promoting her new book ‘The Climate Book’ at the London Literature Festival at the Southbank Centre. She minced no words when she said - "It's important to leave space for those who need to be there. It will be difficult for activists to make their voices heard.” COP27: Greta Thunberg to boycott UN summit due to 'human rights abuses' in Egypt.

Incidentally, the venue of the conference this year is Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt. This is a country where there are nearly 60,000 political prisoners. Greta condemned Egypt's treatment of the prisoners. She took to Twitter and said - “We stand in solidarity with prisoners of conscience in Egypt & joined @copcivicspace petition urging Egypt to open civic space and release everyone arbitrarily detained ahead of #COP27." She also came to a protest in London outside the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. She stood in solidarity with a British-Egyptian free speech activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah. He has been imprisoned in the country for the past 10 years. Greta held a placard that read "Free Alaa before #COP27." COP is the Conference of the Parties – an annual UN-organised conference usually attended by world leaders and climate experts. Its aim is to discuss and take much needed action against the looming threat of climate change. However, the targets set at these summits are far off track. This is frustrating to people like Greta.

Monday, October 31, 2022

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak could attend the COP27 climate summit

Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister of Britain, had pulled out of COP27 Climate Talks in Egypt. The reason cited was “pressing domestic commitments” related to November 17 Autumn Statement. However, he could after all make a U-turn and attend following a major Tory backlash. It seems his rival Boris Johnson, who took a leading role at last year’s COP26 in Glasgow - was planning to go. Sources in No 10 says Rishi Sunak could make it to Egypt “if he gets enough work done.” Environment Department minister Mark Spencer told a section of the media - “He’s come into office, he’s got an inbox which is full to the brim. Clearly, he wants to concentrate on the financial statement and that’s what he’s doing. But if he’s able to get through all of that, you know, COP is very important. It’s important to the government, it’s important to our future, and so we’ll send out senior ministers. That’s yet to be decided who’s going to go.” These developments came after COP26 President Alok Sharma, a Tory minister, said he was “disappointed” while ex-Chancellor George Osborne said the PM had “mishandled” the situation. Rishi Sunak could attend COP27 climate summit in major U-turn after Tory backlash.

Mr Sunak has vowed to protect the environment as he sent congratulations to left-winger Lula da Silva for triumphing in Brazil’s presidential election. The PM tweeted they would work on “growing the global economy to protecting the planet’s natural resources and promoting democratic values.” Incidentally, King Charles agreed to host a climate change reception at Buckingham Palace after he was stopped from attending a summit in Egypt. The monarch had pulled out of the COP27 meeting on the advice of the government. It takes off in Sharm El-Sheikh next weekend. However, there was an announcement that he will hold his own gathering on Friday. Its purpose would be to bring together hundreds of business leaders and climate campaigners. The reception of the King at Buckingham Palace on November 4 will be on the eve of the UN conference in Egypt. The Palace said it will "bring together over 200 international business leaders, decision makers and NGOs to mark the end of the United Kingdom's presidency of Cop26 and look ahead to the Cop27 summit in Egypt."