Ukraine war cannot provide ‘pretext for backsliding’ at UN climate talks COP27, host Egypt urges

The energy and food crises fuelled by the war in Ukraine are an unacceptable “pretext for backsliding” at the United Nations COP27 climate talks, host nation Egypt has warned.

With just over a month until the next yearly summit, ambassador Wael Aboulmagd, Egypt’s COP27 special representative, acknowledged the “complicating factors” that could hinder this year’s talks.

In a thinly veiled message to those involved in the war, Mr Aboulmagd urged countries to “put political differences aside” at the talks in Sharm El-Sheikh, and “expedite” rather than slow down the transition to green power.

The geopolitical context has changed radically since last year’s COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, with the war in Ukraine often knocking climate change down the agenda.

Energy prices have soared as Russia cut supplies to Europe in retaliation to Western sanctions over its invasion.

Meanwhile scores of countries have been pummelled by devastating floods, wildfires and droughts, super-charged by climate change.

While the gas squeeze has accelerated plans to shift to clean power in the European Union and beyond, some countries are also expanding fossil fuel production or firing up old coal plants.

But it is “high time” to implement the Paris Agreement, struck in 2015 at COP21, “in its totality”, Mr Aboulmagd said in a briefing.

“We can see that the [climate] devastation is enormous and that we have huge gaps when it comes to emissions reduction… adapting to climate change and of course, the finance gap which everyone is aware of,” he told reporters.

Developing nations hope that lower-middle income Egypt’s turn to host the yearly talks will put pressure on rich, polluting countries to stump up promised, long overdue cash to help them cope with the fallout from climate breakdown.

Rich countries, responsible for a disproportionate amount of climate-heating emissions, are falling around $16bn short of their target to channel $100bn a year by 2020 to their poorer counterparts to help them cope with climate change .

Egypt has promised to make it a key objectives to make progress the contentious debate around climate reparations, with poor countries asking rich countries to pay for the losses and damages they are suffering that are beyond the realms of adaptation.

That debate was crystallised by this summer’s violent and deadly flooding in Pakistan, which inflicted an estimated $10 billion of damage, displaced 33 million people and killed at least 1,300 in a country that has contributed very little to global heating.

Who should pay for a ‘climate catastrophe’? Pakistan’s savage flooding reignites debate

The ambassador said the hardest hit by climate change are “the most vulnerable and the least developed economically countries on their GDP”.

“Pakistan, of course, is a very sad testament to all of this… We, as an incoming presidency, understand this problem and we see what needs to be done, and that is to implement,” he added.

Last year’s COP26 climate talks in Glasgow launched a “dialogue” on loss and damage, but funding is still almost nowhere to be seen.

Tasneem Essop, executive director of Climate Action Network, said “all eyes are on the Egyptian presidency” to put the needs of people “on the frontlines of the climate crisis are front and centre on the COP agenda”.

That means delivering on climate finance, in particular for adaptation and losses and damages, and progress on phasing out of all fossil fuels, said the leader of CAN, which represents 1,800 global climate groups and participates in United Nations talks.

The Egyptian presidency must ensure “an inclusive and transparent COP- starting with access to affordable accommodation, smooth visa processes and the full and active participation of civil society,” she said, alluding to concerns about restrictions on protests and sky-high hotel prices.

Mr Aboulmagd said Egypt is ensuring cheap youth hostel accommodation was available and accelerating the accreditation process.

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