Act quickly, UN chief tells divided negotiators as COP27 nears end

United Nations Chief António Guterres said negotiations at a global climate conference being held in Egypt are at “crunch time” on Thursday, a day before the scheduled conclusion of the meeting.

Parties at the conference, known as COP27, remain divided on a number of key issues, according to Guterres, who urged them to “act quickly” as the climate clock is ticking.

He cited a “breakdown in trust between North and South, and between developed and emerging economies.” “This is no time for finger pointing,” he said. “The world is watching and there is a simple message: Stand and deliver.” A contentious issue at the centre of the COP27 conference is the payment of reparations for damage caused by climate change in poor regions.

Delegates of the conference have already agreed to place the issue, known as loss and damage funding, on the agenda for the first time.

Developing countries have long pressed for the creation of a financial mechanism to address climate-induced harm in low-income countries.  Guterres said on Thursday an “ambitious and credible” agreement on loss damage and financial support to developing countries holds the key to rebuilding trust.

“The time for talking on loss and damage finance is over. We need action,” he said in a press statement at the COP27 venue.

Negotiators from around 200 countries have been gathering in Egypt’s coastal resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for nearly two weeks, grappling with the question of how global warming can be contained and how climate damage can be financed.

Another key divisive issue at the conference is the use of climate-harming fuel fossils.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent energy prices soaring, prompting many nations to reconsider their energy policies and reactivate coal-fired power plants.

Fossil fuel expansion is “hijacking humanity,” said Guterres.

Fossil fuels – mainly coal, crude oil and gas – produce large amounts of heat-trapping carbon dioxide.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, the COP27 president, on Thursday mentioned a lack of progress on several issues.

On loss and damage, Shoukry said, as he joined Guterres: “Parties are shying away from taking difficult political decisions.”  He called on all parties to go “the extra mile.” A deal on phasing out fossil fuels appeared on Thursday to be far from attainable.

There have been increasing calls to phase out the use of fossil fuels if the battle against climate change is to gain ground.

However, a new version of a draft final declaration for the climate conference has dampened expectations for a substantive agreement on the phase-out   The 20-page draft, among other things, encouraged efforts to “phase down” the unabated use of coal, and rationalized fossil fuel subsidies.

The document did not mention oil and gas, an omission that has disappointed environmentalists.

“It would be absolutely unacceptable if, at the end of a two-week climate conference in the middle of climate collapse, the results from the previous year were repeated at most,” said executive director of Greenpeace Germany, Martin Kaiser.

He called for pressure to be stepped up to ensure that the COP27 final document would include the phase-out of oil and gas.

French diplomat Laurence Tubiana, seen as the architect of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, has joined the calls for pressure.

“Stop the hypocrisy and playing games on crucial issues,” Tubiana said earlier Thursday in Sharm el-Sheikh.

“Two days are a very short time when you look at what has to be achieved,” she added at a press conference.

The COP27 conference is scheduled to continue until Friday evening.

-Ranjith Perera-