COP27: "Greenwashing"?
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As the world continues to face the brunt of climate crisis, leaders from almost 120 countries gather in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt to discuss the steps needed to be taken to tackle climate crisis.
The 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 27) to the UNFCCC opened in Egypt on November 7,2022.
Addressing the world leaders at the opening of the climate summit, UN Secretary General António Guterres told world leaders: “We are in the fight of our lives and we are losing … And our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible. We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator.”
Apologizing for his country’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord under former president Donald Trump, US Present Joe Biden claimed his country was back as a global leader on climate change, CNN reported
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said switching to renewable energy was "a security policy imperative." Italy's new prime minister Giorgia Meloni said her country remained "strongly committed" to its climate goals. Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said countries should not "go weak and wobbly" on climate action. French President Emmanuel Macron urged world leaders to deliver climate justice.
One of the key topics of the conference included compensation and support for the most-affected countries. These include those poor nations that caused little of the pollution but often got a larger share of the weather-related damage. Several called on developed nations for reparations, which in climate negotiations is called “loss and damage,” Associated Press reported.
“Africa should not pay for crimes they have not committed,” Central African Republic President Faustin Archange Touadera said.
Seychelles President Wavel John Charles Ramkalawan said, “Like other islands, our contribution in the destruction of the planet is minimal. Yet we suffer the most.”
The prime minister of Pakistan-- the country where devastated floods this summer killed more than 1,700 people-- said countries are "trapped in a crisis of public financing fueled by debt and yet have to fund climate disasters on their own. This is simply unjust and unfair to say the least."
President of the European Commission Ursula Von Der Leyen acknowledged that richer nations should do their part, telling COP27, "Those most in need, in the developing world, must be supported in adapting to a harsher climate [...] COP must make progress on averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage from climate change," BBC reported.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg refused to attend the global summit describing it as a forum for "greenwashing.", BBC reported.
The climate summit will continue till Friday, November 18, 2022.
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