US special climate envoy John Kerry noted Sunday that few countries have resisted mentioning the global warming goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius in whatever official agreement emerges from the COP27 summit in Egypt.
Speaking at the United Nations conference, where hundreds of global leaders are gathered to discuss climate change action, Kerry did not name any particular countries in his remarks but said that there are very few countries that have raised the issue of not mentioning the language adopted at the last year’s conference was in Glasgow, Scotland.
Kerry added, among other things, that Egypt doesn’t intend to be the country that hosts a retreat from what was achieved in Glasgow, noting the Egyptian presidency is struggling to find common ground on the 1.5-degree pledge.
That has led to fears that it may be softened in the COP27 agreement with the slow pace of talks reportedly making the negotiators increasingly frustrated.
Former President of Ireland and Chair of the UN Elders, Mary Robinson, expressed concerns over the alleged attempt to say that maybe 1.5C is not achievable anymore, noting that’s not acceptable.
She emphasized that one point five is not a target but it’s rather the limit of a livable world.
Robinson took aim at G20 industrialized nations, stressing it is really important that they start to take seriously their responsibility to halve carbon emissions by 2030 since things are not improving.
If significant actions aren’t taken, the UN has said the world’s warming will fail to stay within the threshold set as a goal the global governments committed to in the Paris Agreement signed in 2015, warning the consequences could be devastating.
As the summit began earlier this week, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, offered a dire warning, underscoring that we’re on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator, pushing our planet to tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible.
The COP27 conference is set to end on Nov. 18.
Be the first to comment