Egypt’s COP27 climate summit comes at a ‘watershed moment’

Leaders of a divided world are getting ready to meet in Egypt on Monday (Nov 7), tasked with taming the terrifying juggernaut of global warming as they face gale-force geopolitical crosswinds, including the war in Ukraine and economic turmoil.

Expectations are high from a world justifiably anxious about its climate-addled future, as deadly floods, heatwaves and storms across the planet track worst-case climate scenarios.

The Nov 6 to 18 meeting in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh will also be dominated by the growing need of virtually blameless poor nations for money to cope, not just with future impacts, but those already claiming lives and devastating economies.

United Nations (UN) chief Antonio Guterres said on Thursday that it was time for a “historic pact” between developed and emerging countries, with richer nations providing financial and technical assistance to help poorer ones speed up their renewable energy transitions.

“If that pact doesn’t take place, we will be doomed, because we need to reduce emissions, both in the developed countries and emerging economies,” he told reporters.

Last week, the UN warned that “there is no credible pathway in place” for capping the rise in global temperatures under the Paris Agreement target of 1.5 degrees Celsius.