Egypt, which will host the UN climate talks next month, has warned participating countries not to use «economic pessimism» as a pretext for a possible backtracking on climate pledges.
«There has been concern that the current state of affairs that countries may backtrack,» said Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.
«Backtracking on the antagonistic political positions that exist … because of the pressures of the overall global economic circumstances and therefore using what would be extenuating circumstances to justify their backtracking…. This would be, I think, a very counterproductive stance,» Shoukry told dpa in an interview.
The UN climate summit, known as COP27, will be held in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh from Nov. 6-18 against the backdrop of the Ukraine war that has sent food and energy prices soaring.The conference also comes after disparate climate-related events have wreaked havoc in some parts of the world.
Representatives from around 200 countries will discuss how global warming can be contained and how climate damage can be financed. And the host has promoted COP27 as a summit of action.
«We see COP27 as the COP of implementation where states and parties will highlight their commitment to implement their previous commitments and lay the groundwork for the future in terms of additional commitments that address the challenges,» Soukry has said.
For him, success depends on the determination and political will of the parties involved, as well as an understanding that rich and poor countries are affected equally, «regardless of the seas that divide them.»
He cited recent devastating floods in Pakistan, heat waves in Europe and hurricanes in the United States as catalysts for climate stakeholders to act.
«People are losing their lives,» said Shoukry, who is the COP27 chair-designate. «If the international community of parties does not rise to the occasion, they will be responsible for the deteriorating situation and the continued suffering of a large segment of the world’s population.»
Shoukry hoped that divergence over geopolitical tensions «would not be imported» into the COP process. «There are other places to address these issues. And certainly, here, the focus should be on climate change.»
However, the official sees a «trust deficit» because of the failure to meet previous commitments. In 2009, developed countries pledged to provide $100 billion a year in funding by 2020 for climate protection in poor countries.The pledge remains largely unfulfilled.
Shoukry called the $100 billion figure «miniscule» on the scale of the globe and in terms of the capabilities of developed countries, whose budgets sometimes reach trillions of dollars. «It certainly has no real impact on the challenges of climate change,» he concluded.
«It’s a minuscule amount that should have been met…. So meeting it is still important, but we also need to be practical, we need to do much more for it to have an impact.» But how to make these funds available is a matter of collective will, according to Shoukry.
COP27 will also address how global warming can be limited to a temperature rise of 1.5 degrees Celsius, a target set in the 2015 Paris agreement. In Shoukry’s view, the assumption that the target has been out of reach for a long time is justified. «If you address the enormity of the problem and its impact, and also the need to have ambition, you can make that assessment,» he has said.
«But it really doesn’t help us for the future. If we’re going to assess shortcomings in the past, I think that shouldn’t prevent us from maintaining ambition for the future, or else we’ll find ourselves in a vicious cycle of ineffectiveness.» «
The UN climate talks in Egypt mark the first time they have been held in Africa in years, since the COP held in Morocco in the north of the continent in 2016. Having the summit in Egypt raises Africa’s hopes that the rich world will inject more money into the fight against climate change, the representative understands.
«There are ambitions and expectations not only of African states, but shared by the broader community of developing countries associated with their ability to fulfill their responsibilities and commitments within the context of shared but differentiated responsibilities,» Shoukry has said.
Some human rights groups have expressed concern about possible restrictions on the meaningful participation of environmental activists at COP27, but Shoukry said his country wants to provide civil society groups with a «receptive and comfortable» environment. «We have every desire for civil society to be present, to be given the same rights and privileges (as) at any other COP.»
Egypt, where street protests are restricted, has said activists will be allowed to demonstrate in a designated area adjacent to the conference venue.
