where’s the money COP27 Climate Summit Kicks Off With Mobilization of Payment Demands for Rich Countries – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

• Government officials urged wealthy countries to finally fix broken $100 billion pledges at a major United Nations climate conference, putting the issue of reparations on the official agenda for the first time.
• COP26 President Alok Sharma said Sunday: “We know that we have reached a point where finances will make or break the work program before us.
• Reparations, sometimes called “loss and damage” payments, are widely expected to dominate negotiations at COP27.

SHARM EL SHEIKH, EGYPT — At the United Nations flagship climate conference, top officials kicked off the minutes by urging wealthy nations to finally fix their broken $100 billion promises.

At the COP27 summit, which officially opened on Sunday, delegates from around 200 countries gathered in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss ways to address the climate crisis.

Climate finance will once again play an important role, as it has since the first UN Climate Conference in 1995.

It follows a series of mind-bending extreme weather events around the world. For example, in recent months, a third of Pakistan’s population has been completely submerged in historic floods, Nigeria has recorded its worst floods in a decade, and China is experiencing its most intense and sustained heat wave on record. was hit by

Alok Sharma, the UK MP and president of last year’s COP26, addressed attendees at a UN-brokered meeting on Sunday, saying: “We are fully aware of the scale of the challenges still ahead of us. I’m here.

“We are not currently on track to achieve 1.5, and while we understand that leaders around the world face competing priorities this year, we need clarity. As difficult as our present moment is, inaction is short-sighted and postpones climate catastrophe,” Sharma said.

“We have to find the ability to focus on multiple things at once. How many more wake-up calls will world leaders really need?”

The 1.5 degree Celsius limit is the suction temperature threshold set by the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement. This is recognized as an important global target, as so-called tipping points are more likely to occur when this level is crossed. These are the thresholds where small changes can lead to dramatic changes throughout the planet’s life support systems.

“I will do everything in my power to support our friends in Egypt. The UK is here to achieve ambitious outcomes across the agenda, including mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage,” said the COP President. Sharma said in handing over the country to Egypt’s Sameh Shoukry.

“We know we’ve reached a point where finance will make or break the program of work that’s in front of us,” he added. While pointing to some of the progress, I have heard criticism and agree that governments and multilateral development banks must do more.

Loss and damage on the agenda for the first time

Countries in the global South say the $100 billion in climate finance pledged by wealthy nations in 2009 to help low-income countries mitigate and adapt to the climate emergency will finally be delivered. Seeking reassurance in Egypt.

“The current mobilization of efforts is causing a lot of concern,” Egypt’s Shoukri said on Sunday, according to translation.

“The $100 billion annual pledge has not yet been delivered, and currently available funding is focused on curbing emissions rather than adaptation efforts — [and] Most of our funding is loan-based,” he continued.

Already indebted low-income countries have repeatedly called for a shift to subsidy-based financing rather than more loans.

“I think you’ll agree with me when we say we can’t afford to continue like this. We have to change our approach to this existential threat,” Shukry added. .

The move to deliver on this $100 billion loan pledge has prompted calls from rich countries to compensate vulnerable countries as it becomes harder for many people to live safely on a warming planet. I was born while it was spreading.

Climate compensation, sometimes called “loss and damage” payments, is widely expected to dominate the COP27 meeting. These payments point to the devastating effects of the climate crisis that countries cannot defend against because the risks are unavoidable or they cannot afford to take them.

In fact, for the first time in history, the topic of loss and damage financing was officially on the COP27 agenda. The issue was first posed by countries vulnerable to climate change 30 years ago.

“We are here and do not want to seek funds to respond to loss and damage,” said a spokesperson, referring to a group of 39 small islands and low-lying coastal developing countries, mostly from the Caribbean. Speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Islands Nations, South Pacific.

“We don’t want to add an agenda item or create an arbitrary fund and be treated as if you do us a favor,” they added.

“AOSIS is here to agree to the establishment of a new Loss and Damage Response Fund at COP27 to be operational by 2024. We are here.”

The United Nations sees three key courses of action

Shoukry’s comments follow grim reports from the United Nations and the World Meteorological Organization in recent days.

The United Nations Environment Program said late last month that there was “no credible path” to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Another United Nations report warned the world was “far from meeting” its goal of curbing greenhouse gas emissions, and current plans estimate global temperatures to rise by 2.5 degrees Celsius. increase.

Meanwhile, the WMO said the amount of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide in the earth’s atmosphere hit a record high last year. These are three greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to global warming.

UN Climate Change Executive Director Simon Steele on Sunday urged climate envoys around the world to focus on three key courses of action at COP27. He also doubled down on the need for high-income countries to financially support those on the front lines of the climate emergency.

“First, we need to demonstrate this transformative shift to implementation,” said Stiell. “Every corner of human activity must be in line with the Paris Agreement to pursue efforts to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees, he said.”

“The second action must be to consolidate progress on the critical workstreams of mitigation, adaptation, financing and, crucially, loss and damage,” Stiel said.

“Finally, as a third action, we need to strengthen the implementation of the principles of transparency and accountability throughout the process.”