U.N. chief: Current climate change pledges 'far too little and far too late'
David Knowles
·Senior Editor
Mon, October 3, 2022
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres issued a dire assessment Monday on the current world pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change, saying they were "far too little and far too late" to keep temperatures from rising above a critical threshold.
“The collective commitments of G20 governments are coming far too little and far too late. The actions of the wealthiest developed and emerging economies simply don’t add up,” Guterres said at a press conference at U.N. headquarters in New York City of the efforts to keep average global temperatures from rising 1.5° Celsius or higher above pre-industrial levels.
The world has already warmed by 1.2°C due to the greenhouse effect caused by mankind’s burning of fossil fuels, and studies show that that amount of warming is already having a profound impact on the planet, including making hurricanes stronger and worsening drought, heat waves, wildfires, and extreme rainfall events.
Despite pledges from world governments made at past U.N. climate change conferences in Paris and Glasgow, a study by the Met Office in the United Kingdom found that there is a 50-50 chance that the world will exceed 1.5 C of warming by the year 2026.
On Monday, Guterres made clear that current emissions trajectories looked even more grim in the decades ahead.
“Taken together, current pledges and policies are shutting the door on our chance to limit global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius, let alone meet the 1.5-degree goal,” Guterres said. “We are in a life-or-death struggle for our own safety today and our survival tomorrow.”
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
A September report by the U.N. and the World Meteorological Society found that in order to keep global average rise to “1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, greenhouse gas emission reduction pledges need to be seven times higher.”
The report also stated that unless world nations strengthened and carried out pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions above and beyond current commitments the world was poised to see median warming of 3.2°C (5.76°F) by the year 2100. Warming of that amount would result in a world that is almost unrecognizable from the one we live in today, scientists say, with radically redrawn coastlines due to sea level rise and large swaths of the planet made unlivable due to scorching summertime temperatures.
Pointing to these findings, Guterres once again called on humanity to act to try to save itself from the worst consequences of climate change.
“There is no time for pointing fingers — or twiddling thumbs,” he said. "It is time for a game-changing, quantum-level compromise between developed and emerging economies. The world cannot wait. Emissions are at an all-time high and rising.”
Matlacha, Fla., in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. (Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images)
After a brief decline in greenhouse gas emissions caused linked to the economic slowdown in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, the world has resumed burning fossil fuels at an increasing rate. Russia's war in Ukraine and the ensuing energy crisis stemming from it, have further set back the push to curb emissions.
"The war in Ukraine is putting climate action on the back burner while our planet itself is burning," Guterres said.
Guterres made his remarks just a month prior to COP27, the next U.N. climate change conference, which will be held in Sharm el-Shaikh, Egypt. Despite his gloomy assessment, Guterres attempted to rally support among nations for not only attending COP 27, but for world leaders to come with stronger plans of action.
"On every climate front, the only solution is decisive action in solidarity," Guterres said. "COP27 is the place for all countries – led by the G-20 — to show they are in this fight and in it together."
Lack of funding in focus as Congo hosts pre-COP27 climate talksDavid Knowles
·Senior Editor
Mon, October 3, 2022
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres issued a dire assessment Monday on the current world pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change, saying they were "far too little and far too late" to keep temperatures from rising above a critical threshold.
“The collective commitments of G20 governments are coming far too little and far too late. The actions of the wealthiest developed and emerging economies simply don’t add up,” Guterres said at a press conference at U.N. headquarters in New York City of the efforts to keep average global temperatures from rising 1.5° Celsius or higher above pre-industrial levels.
The world has already warmed by 1.2°C due to the greenhouse effect caused by mankind’s burning of fossil fuels, and studies show that that amount of warming is already having a profound impact on the planet, including making hurricanes stronger and worsening drought, heat waves, wildfires, and extreme rainfall events.
Despite pledges from world governments made at past U.N. climate change conferences in Paris and Glasgow, a study by the Met Office in the United Kingdom found that there is a 50-50 chance that the world will exceed 1.5 C of warming by the year 2026.
On Monday, Guterres made clear that current emissions trajectories looked even more grim in the decades ahead.
“Taken together, current pledges and policies are shutting the door on our chance to limit global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius, let alone meet the 1.5-degree goal,” Guterres said. “We are in a life-or-death struggle for our own safety today and our survival tomorrow.”
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
A September report by the U.N. and the World Meteorological Society found that in order to keep global average rise to “1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, greenhouse gas emission reduction pledges need to be seven times higher.”
The report also stated that unless world nations strengthened and carried out pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions above and beyond current commitments the world was poised to see median warming of 3.2°C (5.76°F) by the year 2100. Warming of that amount would result in a world that is almost unrecognizable from the one we live in today, scientists say, with radically redrawn coastlines due to sea level rise and large swaths of the planet made unlivable due to scorching summertime temperatures.
Pointing to these findings, Guterres once again called on humanity to act to try to save itself from the worst consequences of climate change.
“There is no time for pointing fingers — or twiddling thumbs,” he said. "It is time for a game-changing, quantum-level compromise between developed and emerging economies. The world cannot wait. Emissions are at an all-time high and rising.”
Matlacha, Fla., in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. (Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images)
After a brief decline in greenhouse gas emissions caused linked to the economic slowdown in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, the world has resumed burning fossil fuels at an increasing rate. Russia's war in Ukraine and the ensuing energy crisis stemming from it, have further set back the push to curb emissions.
"The war in Ukraine is putting climate action on the back burner while our planet itself is burning," Guterres said.
Guterres made his remarks just a month prior to COP27, the next U.N. climate change conference, which will be held in Sharm el-Shaikh, Egypt. Despite his gloomy assessment, Guterres attempted to rally support among nations for not only attending COP 27, but for world leaders to come with stronger plans of action.
"On every climate front, the only solution is decisive action in solidarity," Guterres said. "COP27 is the place for all countries – led by the G-20 — to show they are in this fight and in it together."
Congo holds informal ministerial meeting ahead of COP27 climate summit in Kinshassa
Mon, October 3, 2022
By Sonia Rolley
KINSHASA (Reuters) -High-level speakers at climate talks in Kinshasa called out rich nations on Monday for failing to honour a $100 billion per year funding pledge to developing countries, warning that fair finance was needed to avert the worst of the climate crisis.
Dozens of ministers and senior delegates are in Democratic Republic of Congo this week for a final meeting before the COP27 climate summit in November, where more vulnerable countries hope to push for compensation for economic losses linked to climate catastrophes.
"The finance currently available is a pittance with respect to the magnitude of disasters vulnerable nations and people are facing and will face," U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said at the start of the three-day event.
Egypt, which is hosting COP27, is working on how to include this kind of compensation for so-called loss and damage on the formal agenda - a task complicated by industrialized nations' wariness of the liabilities they may face.
"Failure to act on loss and damage will lead to more loss of trust and more climate damage," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in New York on Monday. "The collective commitments of G20 governments are coming far too little and far too late."
He also called out international financial institutions: "Beyond pursuing their own drop-in-the-bucket initiatives, they must intensify their efforts to leverage the necessary massive increases of private finance as first-investors and risk-takers."
In Kinshasa, Mohammed and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry highlighted the failure to deliver on an existing $100 billion per-year pledge to developing countries, which has only ever been partially met and is due to expire in 2025.
Mohammed also criticised an over 50% shortfall in the $356 million pledged to a climate adaptation fund at COP26 last year.
The pre-summit is meant to be a forum for countries to shape the agenda for negotiations in Egypt and improve the chance of progress.
Welcoming delegates, Congo's Environment Minister Eve Bazaiba said she was concerned that countries' ongoing failure to fulfil commitments had become a matter of course.
Earlier Bazaiba told Reuters the focus of talks would be how the richest and most industrialised nations should take financial responsibility for their role in the climate crisis.
"The G20 is responsible for 80% of the pollution in the world," she said in an interview on Saturday. "The real debate of this pre-COP and COP27 is the responsibility of the polluting countries."
Around a dozen young activists protesting outside the venue called on Congolese authorities to cancel plans to drill for oil and gas in its share of the world's second-biggest rainforest and in peatlands that store billions of tonnes of carbon.
"We cannot sacrifice them at the altar of fossil fuel," said activist Bonaventure Bondo.
Congo, like other African nations, has insisted on its right to develop its economy by exploiting its vast natural resources, pledging to minimise the potentially devastating environmental impact by using modern drilling methods and tight regulation.
U.S. climate envoy John Kerry is due to meet Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi on Tuesday. The two countries have set up a working group to help protect Congo's rainforests and peatlands.
(Writing by Alessandra Prentice; additional reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
Mon, October 3, 2022
By Sonia Rolley
KINSHASA (Reuters) -High-level speakers at climate talks in Kinshasa called out rich nations on Monday for failing to honour a $100 billion per year funding pledge to developing countries, warning that fair finance was needed to avert the worst of the climate crisis.
Dozens of ministers and senior delegates are in Democratic Republic of Congo this week for a final meeting before the COP27 climate summit in November, where more vulnerable countries hope to push for compensation for economic losses linked to climate catastrophes.
"The finance currently available is a pittance with respect to the magnitude of disasters vulnerable nations and people are facing and will face," U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said at the start of the three-day event.
Egypt, which is hosting COP27, is working on how to include this kind of compensation for so-called loss and damage on the formal agenda - a task complicated by industrialized nations' wariness of the liabilities they may face.
"Failure to act on loss and damage will lead to more loss of trust and more climate damage," U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in New York on Monday. "The collective commitments of G20 governments are coming far too little and far too late."
He also called out international financial institutions: "Beyond pursuing their own drop-in-the-bucket initiatives, they must intensify their efforts to leverage the necessary massive increases of private finance as first-investors and risk-takers."
In Kinshasa, Mohammed and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry highlighted the failure to deliver on an existing $100 billion per-year pledge to developing countries, which has only ever been partially met and is due to expire in 2025.
Mohammed also criticised an over 50% shortfall in the $356 million pledged to a climate adaptation fund at COP26 last year.
The pre-summit is meant to be a forum for countries to shape the agenda for negotiations in Egypt and improve the chance of progress.
Welcoming delegates, Congo's Environment Minister Eve Bazaiba said she was concerned that countries' ongoing failure to fulfil commitments had become a matter of course.
Earlier Bazaiba told Reuters the focus of talks would be how the richest and most industrialised nations should take financial responsibility for their role in the climate crisis.
"The G20 is responsible for 80% of the pollution in the world," she said in an interview on Saturday. "The real debate of this pre-COP and COP27 is the responsibility of the polluting countries."
Around a dozen young activists protesting outside the venue called on Congolese authorities to cancel plans to drill for oil and gas in its share of the world's second-biggest rainforest and in peatlands that store billions of tonnes of carbon.
"We cannot sacrifice them at the altar of fossil fuel," said activist Bonaventure Bondo.
Congo, like other African nations, has insisted on its right to develop its economy by exploiting its vast natural resources, pledging to minimise the potentially devastating environmental impact by using modern drilling methods and tight regulation.
U.S. climate envoy John Kerry is due to meet Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi on Tuesday. The two countries have set up a working group to help protect Congo's rainforests and peatlands.
(Writing by Alessandra Prentice; additional reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
Africa wants $1.3 trillion in climate financing
Faustine Ngila
Mon. October 3, 2022
Amid failed promises of climate funds to a continent that contributes the least to climate change yet suffers the greatest devastation, climate activists are pushing for more: a tenfold increase in climate funding commitments to Africa from the west’s 2009 $100 billion figure to $1.3 trillion. These calls were made during a recent pre-COP27 media conference in Kigali, Rwanda.
This year alone, climate-change has caused one of the worst droughts in the Horn of Africa region. At least 453 people died as a result of flooding in South Africa in April, while hundreds perished due to devastating tropical storms in Madagascar and Mozambique in the same month. On Aug. 3, at least 24 Ugandans lost their lives as flash floods hit the town of Mbale, leaving 5,600 people displaced and over 5,000 acres of crops destroyed. A 2019 Save the Children report shows over 1,200 people died as the result of cyclones, floods, and landslides in Mozambique, Somalia, Kenya, Sudan, and Malawi.
While asking all African nations to fully participate at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt in November, Faustine Munyazikwiye, deputy director, Rwanda Environmental Management Agency called on the need for an afrocentric approach to advance the continent’s quest for more funding.
“The $100 billion promise was just a number. It didn’t meet the climate needs of developing nations which are most vulnerable. Africa has never been compensated enough for loss and damage which it didn’t cause,” Munyazikwiye told participants.
California-based climate policy organization Climate Policy Initiative last month estimated that climate funding to Africa stands at only around $30 billion per year. It also estimates that funding Africa’s mitigation needs would cost $1.6 trillion by 2030, along with an additional $580 billion for adaptation and $242 billion for “dual benefit” measures, which is short of the $1.3 trillion the continent is asking for.
The effects of climate change in Africa are dire
Africa produces less than 4% of the world’s carbon emissions, but has witnessed some of the worst hazards of climate change, with temperatures rising faster than the global average. A 2019 World Meteorological Organization report warned that a temperature rise of 4°C relative to pre-industrial levels could reduce Africa’s GDP by up to 12.12%.
The World Health Organization estimates that climate change will claim the lives of 250,000 more Africans per year between 2030 and 2050.
A 2021 report (pdf) by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) indicates that the number of undernourished people in Africa has increased by 45.6% since 2012 due to climate change. “Some 281.6 million people on the continent faced hunger in 2020, which is 46.3 million more than in 2019.”
The carbon credit narrative is a sky trap for Africa
In the global carbon market, which grew by 164% to a record $851 billion last year, the continent ranks last in terms of green development mechanisms and funding. “Africa has the largest room to trade its carbon credits but what are the obligations of the buyer and seller?” Munyazikwiye asked.
“Rich countries do not want to decarbonize their economies. It’s a sky trap. Instead of cutting emissions, they pay poor countries for running projects that reduce emissions and take credit for that. Africa doesn’t have emissions to cut, but emissions to avoid,” said founder of climate think tank Power Shift Africa Mohamed Adow.
Adow called on all African presidents to consider leading climate dialogues in their countries because “if you’re the least developed and face the biggest climate vulnerabilities, you need to choose the right climate path.”
Hitting out at African countries such as Namibia, Uganda,and DRC which want to follow the fossil fuel path, Mohamed warned that such moves “inspire climate change perpetrators.” Last February, Namibia discovered 11 billion barrels of oil, Uganda wants to mine its 6.5 billion barrels of oil while the DRC wants to exploit its 5 billion oil barrels, exposing more than 1 million people to pollution and disease.
Faustine Ngila
Mon. October 3, 2022
Amid failed promises of climate funds to a continent that contributes the least to climate change yet suffers the greatest devastation, climate activists are pushing for more: a tenfold increase in climate funding commitments to Africa from the west’s 2009 $100 billion figure to $1.3 trillion. These calls were made during a recent pre-COP27 media conference in Kigali, Rwanda.
This year alone, climate-change has caused one of the worst droughts in the Horn of Africa region. At least 453 people died as a result of flooding in South Africa in April, while hundreds perished due to devastating tropical storms in Madagascar and Mozambique in the same month. On Aug. 3, at least 24 Ugandans lost their lives as flash floods hit the town of Mbale, leaving 5,600 people displaced and over 5,000 acres of crops destroyed. A 2019 Save the Children report shows over 1,200 people died as the result of cyclones, floods, and landslides in Mozambique, Somalia, Kenya, Sudan, and Malawi.
While asking all African nations to fully participate at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt in November, Faustine Munyazikwiye, deputy director, Rwanda Environmental Management Agency called on the need for an afrocentric approach to advance the continent’s quest for more funding.
“The $100 billion promise was just a number. It didn’t meet the climate needs of developing nations which are most vulnerable. Africa has never been compensated enough for loss and damage which it didn’t cause,” Munyazikwiye told participants.
California-based climate policy organization Climate Policy Initiative last month estimated that climate funding to Africa stands at only around $30 billion per year. It also estimates that funding Africa’s mitigation needs would cost $1.6 trillion by 2030, along with an additional $580 billion for adaptation and $242 billion for “dual benefit” measures, which is short of the $1.3 trillion the continent is asking for.
The effects of climate change in Africa are dire
Africa produces less than 4% of the world’s carbon emissions, but has witnessed some of the worst hazards of climate change, with temperatures rising faster than the global average. A 2019 World Meteorological Organization report warned that a temperature rise of 4°C relative to pre-industrial levels could reduce Africa’s GDP by up to 12.12%.
The World Health Organization estimates that climate change will claim the lives of 250,000 more Africans per year between 2030 and 2050.
A 2021 report (pdf) by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) indicates that the number of undernourished people in Africa has increased by 45.6% since 2012 due to climate change. “Some 281.6 million people on the continent faced hunger in 2020, which is 46.3 million more than in 2019.”
The carbon credit narrative is a sky trap for Africa
In the global carbon market, which grew by 164% to a record $851 billion last year, the continent ranks last in terms of green development mechanisms and funding. “Africa has the largest room to trade its carbon credits but what are the obligations of the buyer and seller?” Munyazikwiye asked.
“Rich countries do not want to decarbonize their economies. It’s a sky trap. Instead of cutting emissions, they pay poor countries for running projects that reduce emissions and take credit for that. Africa doesn’t have emissions to cut, but emissions to avoid,” said founder of climate think tank Power Shift Africa Mohamed Adow.
Adow called on all African presidents to consider leading climate dialogues in their countries because “if you’re the least developed and face the biggest climate vulnerabilities, you need to choose the right climate path.”
Hitting out at African countries such as Namibia, Uganda,and DRC which want to follow the fossil fuel path, Mohamed warned that such moves “inspire climate change perpetrators.” Last February, Namibia discovered 11 billion barrels of oil, Uganda wants to mine its 6.5 billion barrels of oil while the DRC wants to exploit its 5 billion oil barrels, exposing more than 1 million people to pollution and disease.
UN chief: World is in `life-or-death struggle' for survival
Kenya Climate Protests
EDITH M. LEDERER and SETH BORENSTEIN
Mon, October 3, 2022
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Monday that the world is in “a life-or-death struggle” for survival as “ climate chaos gallops ahead” and accused the world’s 20 wealthiest countries of failing to do enough to stop the planet from overheating.
The U.N. chief said emissions of global-warming greenhouse gases are at an all-time high and rising, and it’s time for “a quantum level compromise” between rich developed countries that emitted most of the heat-trapping gases and emerging economies that often feel its worst effects.
Guterres spoke as government representatives opened a meeting in Congo’s capital Kinshasa to prepare for the major U.N.-led climate conference in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in November. It's a time of immense climate impacts around the world — from floods that put one-third of Pakistan under water and Europe’s hottest summer in 500 years to hurricanes and typhoons that have hammered the Philippines, Cuba and the U.S. state of Florida.
In the last few weeks, Guterres has amped up a push for climate’s version of asking polluters pay for what they’ve done, usually called “loss and damage,” and he said Monday that people need action now.
“Failure to act on loss and damage will lead to more loss of trust and more climate damage. This is a moral imperative that cannot be ignored.”
Guterres said the COP27 meeting in Egypt “must be the place for action on loss and damage.”
In unusually critical language, he said commitments by the so-called G20 group of the world’s 20 leading economies “are coming far too little, and far too late.”
Guterres warned that current pledges and policies “are shutting the door on our chances to limit global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius, let alone meet the 1.5 degree goal.”
“We are in a life-or-death struggle for our own safety today and our survival tomorrow," he said.
“COP27 is the place for all countries -- led by the G20 -- to show they are in this fight, and in it together,”Guterres said. “And the best way to show it is by showing up at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh.”
Rich countries, especially the United States, have emitted far more than their share of heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, data shows. Poor nations like Pakistan and Cuba have been hurt far more than their share of global carbon emissions.
Loss and damage has been talked about for years, but richer nations have often balked at negotiating details about paying for past climate disasters, like Pakistan’s flooding this summer.
The issue is fundamental for the world's developing countries and Guterres is reminding rich nations “that they cannot try and brush it under the carpet ... G20 nations have to take responsibility for the great need their actions have caused,” said Mohamed Adow of Power Shift Africa, which tries to mobilize climate action in Africa.
Princeton University climate science and international affairs professor Michael Oppenheimer said in an email that if high-income and other big emitters like China want the U.N. convention on climate change to remain useful, "they will need to grapple seriously with loss and damage.”
Otherwise, he said, negotiations “are headed for interminable gridlock.”
Poor countries with low emissions can simply refuse to discuss anything else until the issue is resolved, Oppenheimer said. Richer countries may find a way around the issue without paying for direct damage by paying poorer nations more to adapt to lessen future disasters, but even then developed nations will have to pay out money, not just make promises as they have in the past, he said.
Guterres’ remarks “highlight what small islands and least developed countries have been arguing for decades — that loss and damage is irrefutable and already disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable countries and communities,” said Adelle Thomas, a climate scientist from the Bahamas.
“We are reaching a breaking point, where developed countries must respond instead of continuing to delay action with empty promises and prolonged discussions," she added.
___
Borenstein reported from Washington
___
Follow AP’s climate and environment coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
___
Follow Edith Lederer and Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @edithledererAP and @borenbears
___
Kenya Climate Protests
Kenyan activists demonstrate at a protest to highlight the effects of global warming and demand more aid for poor countries, in downtown Nairobi, Kenya Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told world leaders earlier this week that rich energy companies should be forced to fork over some windfall profits to aid victims of climate change and offset rising fuel and food costs.
EDITH M. LEDERER and SETH BORENSTEIN
Mon, October 3, 2022
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Monday that the world is in “a life-or-death struggle” for survival as “ climate chaos gallops ahead” and accused the world’s 20 wealthiest countries of failing to do enough to stop the planet from overheating.
The U.N. chief said emissions of global-warming greenhouse gases are at an all-time high and rising, and it’s time for “a quantum level compromise” between rich developed countries that emitted most of the heat-trapping gases and emerging economies that often feel its worst effects.
Guterres spoke as government representatives opened a meeting in Congo’s capital Kinshasa to prepare for the major U.N.-led climate conference in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in November. It's a time of immense climate impacts around the world — from floods that put one-third of Pakistan under water and Europe’s hottest summer in 500 years to hurricanes and typhoons that have hammered the Philippines, Cuba and the U.S. state of Florida.
In the last few weeks, Guterres has amped up a push for climate’s version of asking polluters pay for what they’ve done, usually called “loss and damage,” and he said Monday that people need action now.
“Failure to act on loss and damage will lead to more loss of trust and more climate damage. This is a moral imperative that cannot be ignored.”
Guterres said the COP27 meeting in Egypt “must be the place for action on loss and damage.”
In unusually critical language, he said commitments by the so-called G20 group of the world’s 20 leading economies “are coming far too little, and far too late.”
Guterres warned that current pledges and policies “are shutting the door on our chances to limit global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius, let alone meet the 1.5 degree goal.”
“We are in a life-or-death struggle for our own safety today and our survival tomorrow," he said.
“COP27 is the place for all countries -- led by the G20 -- to show they are in this fight, and in it together,”Guterres said. “And the best way to show it is by showing up at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh.”
Rich countries, especially the United States, have emitted far more than their share of heat-trapping carbon dioxide from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas, data shows. Poor nations like Pakistan and Cuba have been hurt far more than their share of global carbon emissions.
Loss and damage has been talked about for years, but richer nations have often balked at negotiating details about paying for past climate disasters, like Pakistan’s flooding this summer.
The issue is fundamental for the world's developing countries and Guterres is reminding rich nations “that they cannot try and brush it under the carpet ... G20 nations have to take responsibility for the great need their actions have caused,” said Mohamed Adow of Power Shift Africa, which tries to mobilize climate action in Africa.
Princeton University climate science and international affairs professor Michael Oppenheimer said in an email that if high-income and other big emitters like China want the U.N. convention on climate change to remain useful, "they will need to grapple seriously with loss and damage.”
Otherwise, he said, negotiations “are headed for interminable gridlock.”
Poor countries with low emissions can simply refuse to discuss anything else until the issue is resolved, Oppenheimer said. Richer countries may find a way around the issue without paying for direct damage by paying poorer nations more to adapt to lessen future disasters, but even then developed nations will have to pay out money, not just make promises as they have in the past, he said.
Guterres’ remarks “highlight what small islands and least developed countries have been arguing for decades — that loss and damage is irrefutable and already disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable countries and communities,” said Adelle Thomas, a climate scientist from the Bahamas.
“We are reaching a breaking point, where developed countries must respond instead of continuing to delay action with empty promises and prolonged discussions," she added.
___
Borenstein reported from Washington
___
Follow AP’s climate and environment coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
___
Follow Edith Lederer and Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @edithledererAP and @borenbears
___
NONE FLYING IN BY AIRSHIP
Egypt: About 90 heads of state confirmed for COP27 climate summit
General view of hotels, banks and office buildings by the Nile River after an interview about the COP27 summit in Cairo
Mon, October 3, 2022
By Aidan Lewis
CAIRO (Reuters) - About 90 heads of state have confirmed attendance at November's COP27 climate negotiations in Egypt where they will address issues including energy transition and food security at opening sessions, a senior Egyptian official said on Monday.
"We've received a large number of confirmations from around the world, I think the last count was about 90 heads of state but the numbers keep coming in," said Wael Aboulmagd, special representative for the COP27 presidency, without mentioning specific countries.
"What we've decided is that our heads of state section will not be a traditional plenary-only type of affair, but rather there will be six roundtables ... for heads of state to actually engage in a discussion on the issue at hand."
Egypt is taking over the presidency of the U.N. climate talks from Britain, and will host the talks from Nov. 6-18 in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Topics for leaders' roundtables held on Nov. 7-8 would include the development of green hydrogen, water and food security, achieving a just energy transition towards renewables, and vulnerable communities, Aboulmagd said.
The themes reflect some of the Egypt's priorities as it tries to better promote the interests of developing nations and their need for financing to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
"We strongly believe that we need all the political will and momentum and direction coming from heads of state to push the process forward, because it has become a very, very adversarial process," Aboulmagd said.
Egypt is working on how to include "loss and damage" - compensation to climate-vulnerable countries already suffering from climate-related weather extremes - on the summit's formal agenda.
At last year's COP26 in Glasgow, the United States and the European Union rejected calls for a fund to compensate for such losses.
At a pre-COP meeting of heads of delegations last month, "no one seemed to say we're against an agenda item", said Aboulmagd.
(Editing by David Evans)
