Ramblings of a 70-year old: cop26

Showing posts with label cop26. Show all posts

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.”

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."

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Egypt will host COP27, the annual United Nations climate talks

Glasgow held COP26 last year but the world has changed considerably over the past year. The full form of COP is Conference of the Parties. There is now an energy crisis, the war in Ukraine, tensions over Taiwan apart from situations like the floods in Pakistan. These have changed the geopolitical concept dramatically. All eyes are now on Egypt where COP27 will be held in Sharm El-Sheikh between 6-18 November. Developing nations will look forward to Egypt, a middle-income developing nation, to provide a stronger platform to their demands. This is an annual event where leaders from almost 200 countries assemble. They put their heads together to evolve methods to tackle the crisis of climate change and its impacts. Apart from leaders, thousands of observers, civil society groups and media attend too. Incidentally, France hosted the 2015 talks. It led to the historic Paris Agreement where countries agreed the need to limit global warming to below 2°C, and ideally to 1.5°C, of warming above pre-industrial levels. COP27: Everything you need to know about the United Nations climate talks in Egypt. One of the attendees would be US President Joe Biden. King Charles, known for his focus on the environment when he was Prince of Wales, would not attend. He pulled out after discussions with Britain’s Prime Minister Liz Truss. As to the presence of Britain, there is no confirmation on whether the Prime Minister will attend, or whether business secretary Jacob-Rees Mogg will come instead. He supports fossil fuel expansion.

COP might not be the ideal process, but right now, it is the single biggest geopolitical forum for countries to join hands and work together to tackle a threat that has an impact on all of humanity. The violent flooding that ravaged Pakistan is a recent example of how climate change can uproot people from their homes and heap miseries on the community. A relevant issue that might come up is on whether richer countries, responsible for the vast majority of emissions, should pay reparations to poor countries. The latter suffers the worst impacts of climate change. Another contentious issue could be the untapped gas fields of Africa. In the opinion of Nick Mabey, chief executive of think tank E3G, countries could be divided over whether to exploit untapped gas or go straight from fossil fuels to clean power.