World leaders kicked off a climate meeting in Egypt on Monday with a request from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for a climate solidarity pact between rich and emerging economies.
It would be a deal in which all countries commit to making extra efforts to decrease emissions this decade in order to meet the 1.5-degree Celsius target.
Guterres made the remarks during the conference in the Egyptian coastal resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
“A deal in which wealthier countries and international financial institutions provide financial and technical aid to emerging economies to help them accelerate their own renewable energy transformation.
Guterres also sent out a stern warning: “We are in the fight of our lives. And we are losing. Greenhouse gas emissions keep growing. Global temperatures keep rising.’’
“The world is on a highway to climate hell, ” he said. For him, humanity has a stark choice: cooperate or perish.”
The two-day Sharm el-Sheikh climate summit, attended by dozens of heads of state and governments, was considered as an attempt to create much-needed political momentum for efforts to combat global warming.
The meeting takes place a day after the opening of a parallel UN climate conference in the Red Sea resort known as COP27.
Negotiators at COP27 were debating ways to keep global warming under control while also mitigating the financial effects of climate change, particularly for disadvantaged countries
The goal, as stated in the 2015 Paris agreement, is to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
According to Guterres, this goal is “on life support, and the machinery are rattling.”
The climate events were being held amid multiple crises surrounding food, energy and rising inflation in economies across the world exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and expectations for major breakthroughs are seen to be low.
Climate-related disasters have meanwhile taken a huge toll on lives and livelihoods in several parts of the globe.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi, whose country has close ties with Russia, on Monday, called for an end to the war in Ukraine.
“I’m making an appeal to stop this war,” said al-Sissi without directly blaming Russia for starting the violence.
He called for “swift and effective” action on climate change.
“Our people expect us to make real, tangible efforts toward decreasing emissions, strengthening capacity for climate change adaptation, and providing the essential funds for developing nations,” he said.
In 2009, industrialized countries agreed to pay 100 billion dollars per year in financing for climate protection in developing countries by 2020.
The vow has mainly gone unfulfilled.
The discussions in Egypt mark their return to Africa following a six-year absence, with COP22 taking place in Morocco in the continent’s north in 2016. (dpa/NAN)
