IIt is “high time for a serious discussion” and “significant action” concerning the damage caused by climate change already suffered, in particular by developing countries, pleaded on Wednesday September 21 the Secretary General of the UN. Less than two months away from COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Antonio Guterres and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi – from a distance – brought together various leaders from developed and developing countries behind closed doors for “frank exchanges on climate action.
“My messages have been clear. On the climate emergency: the objective of + 1.5 ° C is under artificial respirator. And is rapidly weakening,” the UN secretary-general said in reference to the most ambitious goal of the Paris agreement to limit warming to +1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial era. “We are heading towards + 3°C. »
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“Four Burning Issues”
Under these conditions, he called on governments to tackle between now and COP27 “four burning problems”: raising ambitions in terms of reducing emissions, helping the most vulnerable countries, adapting to to impacts and its funding, which must be increased, and finally “loss and damage”.
This last point, which has become a crucial element of climate negotiations, concerns the damage already caused by the multiplication of extreme weather events, which neither measures to curb global warming nor those to adapt to its consequences have been able to prevent. And for which developing countries are demanding compensation. “It is high time to have a serious discussion and meaningful actions on this issue,” insisted Antonio Guterres.
“I hope COP27 in Egypt will get on with it,” he added, seeing it as a matter of “climate justice, international solidarity and building trust.” At COP26 in Glasgow at the end of 2021, despite pressure from developing countries advocating for specific funding for this loss and damage, rich countries had blocked this request and the meeting had simply given birth to the launch of a “dialogue” until in 2024. A few days ago, the group of least developed countries meeting in Dakar put this claim back on the table, calling for the establishment of a financing mechanism “to deal with the damage caused by global warming.
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