Friday, March 29

The COP is extended 24 hours due to differences on how to pay for the damage caused by climate change

It was inevitable. The Climate Summit lasts at least 24 hours. The new deadline goes to Saturday, as announced this Friday by the president of the COP27 of Egypt, Sameh Shoukry. He had too much dissent.

Shoukry has given in quickly and has not rushed this, in theory, the final day of the COP. “Time is not on our side”, he has told the delegations in an evaluation plenary during which he has asked countries to come up with solutions.

The point that seems most controversial is the fund to compensate for the damage caused by climate change in impoverished countries. The European Union argues with China because it does not consider that the Asian giant can already argue that it should not contribute money. The vice president of the European Commission, Franz Timmermans, has said that the EU is prepared to admit this fund if China reinforces its cut in greenhouse gas emissions. China is the first emitter of CO2 in the world.

In that plenary session, Ghana used its turn to give the floor to a young woman who summarized: “As rich and polluting nations, do not forget your responsibility. Do not return next year to an empty summit, decide now. If you are rich and powerful, provide funds for those who suffer the most from the disasters we have not caused. Be our heroes”. Her intervention has caused a general applause from delegates standing up.

The Climate Summit drags blockade and a slow pace in the negotiations. Only this Friday morning has a draft final decision appeared. Among its provisional paragraphs is the warning that the war in Ukraine threatens countries to back down on their action against climate change.

The disagreement in this financing of climate damage is also clear because an agreement does not appear. The draft offers almost no progress on moving away from fossil fuels compared to what appeared in the 2021 Glasgow Pact.



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