THE UN climate summit in Egypt, COP27, heads into its final week with warnings that the talks are drifting towards a chaotic final few days, with little to show for the first week.
At this year’s meeting, in the coastal holiday resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, countries gathered to discuss how to reduce emissions while also offering financial support to the most affected communities.
Much of the first week was dominated by speeches from world leaders who attended the first two days, followed by President Biden, who dropped in on Thursday after successful mid-term election results for his party in the United States.
In his speech, President Biden made reference to the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, which will mean that $370 billion will be spent on climate change in the US. The Democrats were keen to pass the legislation before the mid-terms, in case they lost control of Congress.
The President said: “To permanently bend the emissions curve, every nation has need to step up. At this gathering, we must renew and raise our climate ambitions. The United States is acting. Everyone has to act. It’s a duty and responsibility of global leadership.”
So far at the talks, though, there has been little in the way of new announcements about emissions reductions or many significant new pledges of climate finance for poor countries.
The advocacy and policy officer at Christian Aid Ireland, Ross Fitzpatrick, said: “Week one at COP27 has seen wealthy countries fall at the first hurdle to show real leadership on climate justice. Unless these countries are fully prepared to acknowledge their ecological debt to those bearing the brunt of the worst impacts of the climate crisis, we won’t see a just and equitable outcome at this meeting.
“There is still time to change the direction of travel, but it will require political leadership on a scale which has been sorely lacking to date. As hosts, the Egyptian Presidency needs to get a grip on the talks, which risk drifting on to the rocks in Sharm el-Sheikh.”
Many vulnerable countries arrived hoping to see the creation of a loss-and-damage fund to compensate victims of climate change from events that cannot be adapted to, such as having their home destroyed by a cyclone, or their village lost to rising sea levels. But, so far, countries have agreed only to discuss the creation of this fund by 2024, suggesting that richer nations may be trying to kick the can down the road.
A variety of church groups are following the talks, lobbying delegates from different countries and trying to bring the moral voice of their congregations to bear on the proceedings. Mattias Soderberg is helping to lead a delegation from the ACT Alliance: a network of church-based humanitarian NGOs. He said: “Churches and other communities of faith are best placed to know the situation and to be first responders.
“As integral parts of the communities where we work, we know that all people are part of their communities, including youth, women, and indigenous people. Climate resilience requires the involvement of communities, and those communities must include the voices of all.”
Representing the Anglican Communion at the talks is the Archbishop of Central America, the Most Revd Julio Murray. He said: “We have to make sure the responses that are coming to the most vulnerable in our communities are out of justice according to the values of the Kingdom of God. This is a tremendous opportunity that only the Church can fulfil.”
As well as the slow progress in the negotiation halls, the summit has also been beset with logistical problems. A shortage of food meant that people queued for more than 90 minutes in the Egyptian sun only to find that all the overpriced sandwiches they had been waiting to buy had sold out. On Wednesday, sewage ran down the main road, in the middle of the conference, as one of the toilet blocks malfunctioned.
In an attempt to mollify irritated delegates, the hosts halved the price of food and made all soft drinks free of charge. Despite the venue being covered in recycling bins for paper, cans, and plastic, all the drinks on site are sold in glass bottles.
Campaigners hope that the final week of the summit will produce more concrete outcomes as negotiations move towards the finish on Friday.
Joe Ware is a senior climate journalist at Christian Aid