In the midst of numerous competing crises, such as the conflict in Ukraine, high inflation, food shortages, and an energy crisis, representatives from all over the world convened on Sunday in the Egyptian beach resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for talks on combating climate change.
AP reported that after two intense days of preliminary negotiations, negotiators decided to formally debate the issue of vulnerable nations receiving compensation for the loss and suffering caused by climate change, marking a first tiny success. Rich countries, especially the United States, have been opposing the idea of climate reparations for years, weighing on the negotiations.
“The fact that it has been adopted as an agenda item demonstrates progress and parties taking a mature and constructive attitude towards this,” said the U.N.’s top climate official, Simon Stiell.
“This is a difficult subject area. It’s been floating for thirty-plus years,” he said. “I believe it bodes well.”
Additionally, civil society organizations supported the choice.
“At long last, providing funding to address losses and damages from climate impacts is on the agenda of the U.N. climate negotiations,” said Ani Dasgupta, president of the World Resources Institute.
He did, however, give a warning, saying: “still have a marathon ahead of us before countries iron out a formal decision on this central issue.”
The deal could contribute to making “real progress” on the topic of lowering emissions, according to German climate ambassador Jennifer Morgan, who led negotiations on the matter with Chile in the run-up to the talks.
Alok Sharma, a British official who is stepping down as the negotiations’ chair, said nations had made significant strides toward maintaining the target of lowering global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century at their most recent conference in Glasgow.
However, according to experts, there is a rapidly dwindling probability of achieving the 2015 Paris climate agreement’s agreed-upon aim. Already, since the beginning of the industrial age, global temperatures have risen by around 1.2 C (2.2 F).
Sharma emphasized that because of other world challenges, efforts to stop climate change are “buffeted by global headwinds.”
According to Sharma, “(Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s violent and unlawful conflict in Ukraine has sparked a number of global crises, energy and food instability, inflationary pressures, and spiraling debt.” “These crises have exacerbated already-existing climatic vulnerabilities and the pandemic’s lasting effects.”
Even if the situation is difficult, Sharma argued that waiting to take action will merely delay the inevitable climatic catastrophe. We need to learn how to concentrate on multiple things at once.
The fact that more than 40,000 individuals have signed up for this year’s talks reflects the urgency felt as a result of the widespread impacts and high repair costs of catastrophic weather catastrophes around the world. About 110 world leaders are anticipated to attend, according to the organizers, and many of them will speak on November 7-8 at a high-level event. U.S. President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit later in the week.
However, a number of important officials, including the presidents of China and India, as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India, did not plan to attend, raising concerns about whether or not the Cairo talks could produce any significant agreements to reduce emissions without the participation of the two largest polluters in the world.
Rights activists criticized Egypt once more for limiting protests and stepping up surveillance during the summit and drew attention to the case of Alaa Abdel-Fattah, a well-known pro-democracy activist who is currently in prison. Award-winning novelist Ahdaf Soueif, Abdel-aunt, Fattah’s claimed that he entered a “full hunger strike” on Sunday morning and stopped drinking water at that time.