(MENAFN- Swissinfo)
A woman assesses the damage in her home in Pakistan's Charsadda district after devastating floods inundated a third of the country this summer. Keystone / Arshad Arbab
Among the many topics to be tackled at the upcoming United Nations climate change conference (COP27) is financial aid for the countries most affected by the climate crisis. Switzerland is calling for increased investment in climate protection and asking for the support of countries that are in a position to contribute.
This content was published on November 4, 2022 - 09:00 November 4, 2022 - 09:00 A journalist from Ticino resident in Bern, I write on scientific and social issues with reports, articles, interviews and analysis. I am interested in environmental, climate change and energy issues, as well as migration, development aid and human rights in general.
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Wael Aboulmagd wants to see a shift 'from promises to action' when around 90 heads of state and government arrive in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh for COP27, the 27th annual United Nations conference on climate change, which begins on November 6. Aboulmagd, Egypt's special envoy for the conference, has previously said that there is still a“huge gap” between countries' climate action and what would be needed to comply with the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial level. A big point of discussion is financial aid for countries that are suffering most because of climate change.
Greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, and the impacts of global warming on people and the environment are increasingly evident. Extreme events like the floods that submerged a third of Pakistan's territory in August and the hottest and driest summer in Europe in 500 years once again highlighted the urgency of concerted global action.
However, keeping promises and working together has become more difficult at a time marked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the energy crisis, and tensions between the United States and China, the world's two largest emitters of CO2. Dwindling gas supplies from Russia have prompted several countries, including Switzerland, to review their energy strategies. The global consensus on“phasing down” coal reached at last year's conference in Glasgow, is no longer so solid.
What will be discussed at COP27? From November 6 to 18, delegates and government officials will discuss the implementation of the Paris Agreement and how to meet emission reduction targets. They will also discuss the rules of the mechanism that allows countries to achieve their goals by financing climate protection projects abroad.
Last year, states pledged to increase their ambitions related to climate action and to present updated 'Nationally Determining Contributions' (NDCs) every five years. They also pledged to improve their climate plans for 2030 ahead of COP27. But only 23 countries submitted their updated reduction targets by the September deadline this year. Current pledges by the 194 countries that signed the Paris Agreement will lead to 2.5°C of warming by the end of the century, according to the UN climate agency's latest report, published just days before the COP27.
Watch the short video below to understand how CO2 offsets work:
Gas will also be on the COP27 agenda — with African countries pushing for more fossil fuels for the continent's economic development — as well as financial means to help the poorest and most vulnerable states cope with climate change. Among the thorniest issues is compensation for loss and damage caused by global warming.
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