COP27: UN climate talks go into the night amid tense negotiationson November 20, 2022 at 12:46 am

- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -

There are signs that a breakthrough on a potentially historic deal at a summit in Egypt is within reach.

Climate activists held demonstration in front of International Convention Center to protest the negative effects of climate change, as the UN climate summit COP27 continues in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on November 19, 2022.Image source, Getty Images

Negotiations over a potentially historic deal at the COP27 UN climate summit in Egypt continued overnight on Saturday.

The two-week conference in Sharm el-Sheikh was extended after no deal was reached by Friday.

The question of who will pay for “loss and damage” caused by climate change has been the biggest sticking point.

But while negotiators said late on Saturday that this had been resolved, no overall agreement was announced.

Host nation Egypt said it wanted the deal to be struck before the end of the night, but negotiators told reporters that an agreement was still some way off, and they were preparing for another long night.

These summits regularly run into overtime – and COP27 is on track to become one of the longest ever.

Negotiations continued even as the venue in the resort city was dismantled, and representatives of some countries were reported to have left.

The key disagreement is over a dedicated “loss and damage” fund to pay for the effects of climate change, which developing countries have been calling for for decades.

If a deal is agreed it will be a historic victory for those nations, which may go some way to reducing the burden of events such as recent flooding in Pakistan and Nigeria.

In a dramatic move, late on Thursday night the EU said it could agree to this on some conditions – which proved to be controversial.

The EU argued that all those who could afford it should contribute to the fund, including larger emerging economies like China, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.

This raised fundamental questions for the UN about the definition of developing countries.

A commitment made 30 years ago stipulated that rich nations should shoulder more of the effort to reduce carbon emissions. But the landscape has vastly changed since then, and some developing countries have become much richer – and much bigger contributors to emissions.

Representatives for the US said it was working on proposals at the conference to help developing countries meet the cost of climate change.

Earlier, Pakistan’s Climate Minister Sherry Rehman, said negotiators were nearing a positive outcome.

Other issues on the table included pledges on fossil fuels.

Last year at COP26 in Glasgow – which also ran well into overtime – countries agreed to “phase down” the use of coal.

There has now been a proposal to expand this to also include oil and gas.

This video can not be played

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

- Advertisement -

Discover

Sponsor

Latest

Social Security recipients with kids won’t want to miss this stimulus-check deadline

Social Security recipients who have children but haven’t filed taxes recently need to submit their payment information to the feds by Wednesday in order...

The US socialite who gave it all up to become a Carmelite nunon June 8, 2021 at 11:09 pm

Sister Mary Joseph gave the end of her life to God but her first 60 years were far from traditional.Sister Mary Joseph gave the...

Brendon McCullum: England appoint former New Zealand captain as new men’s Test coachon May 12, 2022 at 1:12 pm

England appoint former New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum as men's Test coach on a four-year deal.

Two injured after Flying Scotsman crash at Highland stationon September 29, 2023 at 9:21 pm

Three other passengers were treated at the scene of the incident at Aviemore station in the Highlands.Two people have been treated in hospital after...

War in Ukraine: The moment a puppy is rescued from the rubbleon April 13, 2022 at 3:42 pm

Rescuers heard a puppy crying in the rubble and used their bare hands to find it.