COP-27 CLIMATE SUMMIT IN EGYPT

ChinmayaIAS Academy - Current Affairs November 8, 2022 GS3 Leave a comment 254 Views

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told countries gathered at the start of the COP-27 summit in Egypt on Monday that they face a stark choice: work together now to cut emissions or condemn future generations to climate catastrophe.
Guterres’s comments come at a time when the world is distracted by Russia’s war in Ukraine, rampant consumer inflation and energy shortages.
“Humanity has a choice: cooperate or perish,” Mr. Guterres told delegates gathered in the seaside resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.
“The two largest economies — the U.S. and China — have a particular responsibility to join efforts to make this pact a reality,” he said.
The speech set an urgent tone as governments sit down for two weeks of talks on how to avert the worst of climate change.
Guterres called for a pact between the world’s richest and poorest countries to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels and funding to ensure poorer countries can reduce emissions and cope with the climate impacts that have already occurred.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the COP-27 summit in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt that the planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible and that its people were set on a highway to climate hell.
“Greenhouse gas emissions keep growing. Global temperatures keep rising. And our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible,” he said. “We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator.”
Despite decades of climate talks — the Egypt COP is the 27th Conference of the Parties — progress has been insufficient to save the planet from excessive warming as countries are too slow or reluctant to act, he noted.
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, also speaking at the event, said global leaders have a credibility problem when it comes to climate change. He criticised developed nations’ ongoing pursuit of gas resources in Africa, which he described as “fossil fuel colonialism.”
Immediately after Mr. Guterres’ speech, UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahya took the stage and said his country, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), would continue to produce fossil fuels for as long as there is a need.
“The UAE is considered a responsible supplier of energy and it will continue playing this role as long as the world is in need of oil and gas,” he said. The UAE will host next year’s UN conference.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that climate and energy security went “hand in hand” and world leaders must act quickly to address the impacts of climate change.
“Climate security goes hand in hand with energy security,” Mr. Sunak said. “Putin’s abhorrent war in Ukraine, and rising energy prices across the world are not a reason to go slow on climate change. They are a reason to act faster.”
Guterres said that the goal of keeping the global temperatures from rising 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels will only stay alive if the world can achieve net zero emissions by 2050. He asked countries to agree to phase out the use of coal, by 2040 globally.