"Time is not on our side," says COP27 President Sameh Shoukry.
Hello! It's 'Solutions Day' at COP27 – which is rather ironic considering that delegates are struggling to finalize an agreement in the closing days of the U.N. climate summit in Egypt. The first draft of a deal being hashed out would keep a target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius but left many of the most contentious issues unresolved ahead of a Friday deadline. Egypt's COP27 president urged negotiators to speed up the pace to overcome their differences, while poor nations slammed the draft for failing to address their need for funds to cope with damage already being wrought by climate-driven storms, droughts and floods. "Time is not on our side, let us come together now and deliver by Friday," COP27 President Sameh Shoukry said in a letter to delegates. The 20-page draft of a hoped-for final agreement repeats the goal from last year's Glasgow Climate Pact to limit warming to 1.5C and asks countries "to accelerate measures towards the phase down of unabated coal power and phase out and rationalize inefficient fossil fuel subsidies." It also "welcomes" the fact that delegates had begun discussions on launching a so-called loss and damage fund for countries being ravaged by climate impacts, but did not include details for launching it. Climate-vulnerable countries including tiny island nations want the agreement to lead to a fund, and soon. But wealthy countries have resisted the idea over fear such a deal could open them up to endless financial liability for their historical contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. One negotiator from an island nation who asked not to be named said he was underwhelmed by the draft text and its "silence on the critical issue of loss and damage". But the division doesn't stop there. The head of the Commonwealth told Reuters that the world's multilateral banks have "demonstrably failed" low- and middle-income countries when climate disasters hit and need to better assess their vulnerability and resilience when offering support. Pressure on development finance institutions such as the World Bank has grown over the last year amid concern not enough money was being funneled to developing countries to help them prepare for and withstand the impacts of global warming. Elsewhere, up to 84 countries and companies are likely to commit to a pledge launched last year to ditch gasoline-powered vehicles in favor of going electric. The pledge was first announced with 130 countries at COP26. |
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Etihad is committed to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. How is Etihad leading the way towards a sustainable future for commercial aviation? |
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Licypriya Kangujam, 11-year-old Environmentalist & Climate Activist Founder of The Child Movement, sits with her mom after her interview with Reuters at the COP27 climate summit in Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 15, 2022. REUTERS/Emilie Madi |
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- Among the throngs of men and women in business attire at the COP27 United Nations climate summit in Egypt this week are children who have traveled from around the world to demand adult leaders take action to protect their future. They may be small, but their voices have been some of the loudest in the climate action movement.
- France and Spain joined a pledge to stop sales of gasoline-driven vehicles by 2035, five years earlier than previously planned, part of efforts to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.
- EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans told the COP27 summit in Sharm El-Sheikh on Wednesday the bloc and four member countries will provide over 1 billion euros for climate adaptation in Africa.
- An alliance committed to banning new domestic oil and gas drilling added Portugal as a member at the COP27 climate talks on Wednesday, but big fossil fuel producers stayed away as the world reels from energy turmoil caused by the Ukraine war.
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People gather outside a Starbucks location while singer Billy Bragg performs for striking Starbucks Workers United Union members in Buffalo, New York, U.S., October 12, 2022. REUTERS/Lindsay DeDario/File Photo |
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- Workers at more than 100 U.S. company-owned Starbucks locations plan to strike for one day on Thursday to protest what they say is illegal retaliation against their union organizing.
- The former chief executive of an Austrian bank who faces charges in the United States in relation to a bribery and money laundering conspiracy involving Brazilian construction company Odebrecht asked a London court on Wednesday to refuse to extradite him.
- Roger Ng, the former Goldman Sachs banker convicted for helping loot Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund, sued the government's star witness Tim Leissner for more than $130 million, alleging fraud.
- Viewsroom podcast: The global climate meeting has mostly failed to lure the same corporate big hitters as Glasgow did last year. In this Viewsroom podcast, Breakingviews columnists discuss how even if the gathering in Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh yields little progress, 2023 in the UAE could be better.
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Martijn Wilder, founder and CEO of Pollination, a global climate change investment and advisory firm, shares his thoughts on climate and nature investment opportunities during 'Solutions Day' at COP27: "The main story coming out of COP so far has undoubtedly been one of climate justice. To succeed in the transition, private financing is essential to get the trillions of dollars needed to achieve one that is just and globally equitable. "The shift required to unlock a more sustainable future offers huge commercial opportunities which need to be seized upon in large developing nations, where funds from investors and lenders can make the biggest difference. Helping these countries ultimately helps the world, and it is mutually beneficial to eliminate the barriers to capital flows within these jurisdictions. "But whilst there is a balance to be struck between commercial success and social purpose, it is becoming clear that we don't have much of an alternative. We no longer have the luxury of time to abandon transition-aligned investments just because we don't like the returns. Instead, we must focus on making climate and nature investment opportunities more palatable and be smarter about how they are sequenced. "To bring about a truly just transition, capital flows to those more acutely impacted nations should be accompanied by a comprehensive conversation that stretches beyond the financial support we can provide them, to also include technical and labor market assistance." |
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The Galapagos Islands' thousands of unique species have incalculable ecological value. But what are they worth? Perhaps around $800 million, judging by the size of a "debt-for-nature" swap deal, according to people with knowledge of the talks. These kinds of agreements are part of efforts to address an intractable quandary facing world leaders at the U.N. COP27 summit underway in Egypt: who will pay the bill for the global fight against biodiversity loss and climate change? |
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"Investing in the jobs and skills of the future will help us to tackle inequality as we tackle the climate crisis. The best time to act on good, green jobs was yesterday, the next best time is today." Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London and Chair of C40 Cities, a global climate leadership group |
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- Colombian President Gustavo Petro is set to address an oil and gas conference in Bogota, amid industry criticism of his government's energy transition proposals on Nov. 18.
- Read our Reuters feature on Nov. 18 highlighting the tensions, exhaustion and horse-trading in the final hours of COP27 global negotiations.
- Pacific Island law students, led by the government of Vanuatu, get the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory opinion on climate change on Nov. 18.
- Once a honey exporting territory, the Palestinian enclave of Gaza now produces far less honey due to climate change and shortened springs. The change in seasons had cut pollination time, thus giving the bees much shorter time for collecting pollen and producing honey. Find out more in our Reuters feature on Nov. 22.
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