World leaders converge at Cop27 summit in Egypt

Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, Nov 7 (EFE).- Global leaders arrived on Monday at the Egyptian city of Sharm el Sheikh for the world’s most high profile climate summit, where over 100 international representatives converged to discuss measures to tackle the climate emergency with a special focus on the African continent and developing economies.

The Sharm el Sheikh Climate Implementation Summit (SCIS) will, for the first time since the adoption of the United Nations climate convention, include Loss and Damage funding as an item on the agenda at this year’s gathering, Cop 27 president Sameh Soukry announced on Sunday.

Loss and Damage funding could see rich countries that have profited from fossil fuel investment compensating poorer countries financially for the devastating effects on the climate of their polluting economic systems.

The UN has warned that the last eight years are some of the warmest on record.

“Sea levels are rising at twice the speed of the 1990s,” UN chief António Guterres said in a statement.

“We must answer the planet’s distress signal with ambitious, credible Climate Action. COP27 must be the place – and now must be the time,” he added.

The planet has already warmed 1.1C since pre-industrial times and scientists have warned that spikes in global temperature must be limited to 1.5C by 2100 to avoid terrible climate disasters.

Global leaders were on Monday greeted by Guterres and President of Egypt, Abdelfatah al Sisi.

Among the expected attendees are the United Kingdom’s newly appointed prime minister Rishi Sunak, who was met with much criticism when he initially said he would not be going, and Italy’s first female premier, far-right leader Giorgia Meloni.

The summit will no doubt be overshadowed by the ongoing war in Ukraine which has triggered a global energy crisis and which has diverted global attention from the climate crisis.

atm-ch/