The 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27): A Raging Debate on Climate Change Solutions for the Most Disturbed and Poor Countries

In United Nations jargon, the meeting is called the Conference of the Parties, or COP. The 27th Conference of the Parties meeting is referred to as “COP 27”.

This is a raging debate, even within the conference. “As it is, The COPs are not really working,” youth climate activist Greta Thunberg, who was a media sensation at last year’s conference, said during an event in London this week after announcing that she will not attend COP27 this year. “The COPs are mainly used as an opportunity for leaders and people in power to get attention, using many different kinds of greenwashing,” Thunberg said.

The world is still warming even after all the pledges come out ofCOPs. That’s even after countries submitted updated national action plans at last year’s COP, which marked a major deadline for nations to ratchet up their commitments under the Paris agreement.

Developing countries want a commitment on money they need to address the climate-fueled disasters they are already experiencing. Poor countries want a fund to pay for things like relocating vulnerable villages or just making up economic growth lost to storms and heat waves. The United States and many other industrialized nations fear being held legally liable for climate change damages because of their opposition to a new fund.

There’s also growing outrage this year about the lack of support for communities that have already suffered irreparable damage from climate disasters. Small island nations, for instance, have already had to evacuate entire populations from disappearing islands. They’ve had to shoulder those costs even though they’ve contributed very little to the pollution causing climate change.

More greenhouse gas emissions has been done by wealthier nations led by the US. They should cough up money to pay for the consequences. Advocates and delegates from some of the most vulnerable nations want a funding mechanism for this kind of “loss and damage.” And while wealthier nations have poo-pooed this idea over and over again in previous COPs, they’re faced with an upswell of support for loss and damage financing from developing countries as climate change takes an ever greater toll.

There have been some bright spots. The new government doubled the cut to 43 percent below 2005 levels by the year 2030. More cuts were promised by a handful of countries, including Chile, which is working to make the rights of nature part of its constitution. Most of the updates are from small polluters that have previously neglected their goals, and are playing catch-up. Many of the low-hanging fruit have already been picked.

At last year’s meeting, world leaders agreed to transition away from fossil fuels and cut greenhouse gas emissions more quickly than in the past. But they failed to make substantive promises about how that would happen.

Fransen works to keep track of all the emissions plans and the countries that are sticking to them. It’s tricky to take stock. For one thing, it means actually measuring how much carbon nations emit. It also involves showing the effects those emissions will have on the climate 10, 20, or 100 years from now.

It is difficult to determine how much CO2 humanity is making or to prove that nations are keeping their pledges. That’s because the gas is all over the atmosphere, muddying the origin of each signal. Climate change and natural processes that release carbon, like decaying vegetation and thaw permafrost, are complicating matters. Think of it like trying to find a water leak in a swimming pool. Researchers have tried pointing satellites at the Earth to track CO2 emissions, but “if you see CO2 from space, it is not always guaranteed that it came from the nearest human emissions,” says Gavin McCormick, cofounder of Climate Trace, which tracks greenhouse gas emissions. “That’s why we need more sophisticated methods.” For instance, Climate Trace can train algorithms to use steam billowing from power plants as a visible proxy for the emissions they’re belching. Other scientists have been making some progress using weather stations to monitor local emissions.

Climate, assessment, accountability: what can be done next? Anopheles stephensi isn’t the silver bullet for COVID-19

Models suggest distributing COVID-19 vaccines more fairly might have saved more than a million lives in 2021. Plus, how to decarbonize the military and what to look out for at COP27.

Many of the focus will be on evaluation, assessment and accountability. “We can’t just move on to new commitments without getting a grip on whether the current commitments are being carried out,” says climate-policy analyst David Waskow.

There is an insecticide-resistant mosquito in Asia that has made its way to Africa. There was a study that showed Anopheles stephensi accounted for almost all adult mosquitoes found near the homes of people with the disease. The notorious species can breed in urban environments and persist through dry seasons. It could infect more than 100 million people in Africa if they are not protected by vaccines and other control measures. According to Fitsum Tadesse there isn’t a silver bullet for this fast-spreading vector.

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-03572-0

How should militaries of the Middle East and North Africa account for carbon dioxide emissions? The troubling truth behind net-zero emissions proposals

Military carbon dioxide emissions are huge — per capita, US armed forces put out more CO2 than any nation in the world. But militaries are largely spared from emissions reporting. Researchers outline how to hold the military to account for carbon emissions.

It’s a bad idea to leave out more than a billion people in Africa, according to Energy researcher Rose M. Mutiso. That is the troubling truth behind net-zero emissions proposals. She argues that we can’t we can’t engage meaningfully with the concept of net zero — at COP27 and in general — without Africa-specific data, appropriate models and African expertise.

After a stint at Google, astronomer Oliver Müller is back in academia — and he has learnt some valuable lessons. It is one of the most important things to not be a hero. “If a task can be finished only through putting your mental health and even physical health at risk, you are effectively hiding flaws in the system.”

The leaders of the wealthy nations have been warned not to backpedal on the commitments they made at the previous climate conference in Glasgow, UK.

The president of Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology in Cairo says that climate-vulnerable countries will be urging delegates at the COP to boost research funding. Countries, he says, need to conduct more of their own climate studies — especially in the Middle East and North Africa, which already experience low rainfall and arid conditions. The Arab world accounts for just 1.2% of published climate studies, according to an analysis1 published at the end of 2019.

In 2015, Egypt estimated that it would need to set aside 73 billion dollars for projects to mitigate climate change and adapt its infrastructure. But this number has now more than tripled to $246 billion, says environment minister Yasmine Fouad. “Most climate actions we have implemented have been from the national budget, which adds more burden and competes with our basic needs that have to be fulfilled.”

However, the LMIC cause was boosted when the phrase “losses and damages” featured in the latest report on climate impacts, adaptation and vulnerability from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published in February. Christopher Trisos, an environmental scientist at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and a lead author of the report’s chapter on climate impacts in Africa, says: “There is stronger evidence than ever that Africa has already experienced loss and damage that is attributable to human-induced climate change.”

Ian Mitchell, a researcher with think tank the Center for Global Development in London, warned of possible unintended consequences if agreement on loss and damage becomes a deal-breaker at the meeting. High-income countries could agree to the principle and then absorb loss-and-damage finance as part of their humanitarian-aid spending — meaning it would not be new money.

Adil Najam, who studies international climate diplomacy at Boston University in Massachusetts, thinks it is unlikely that these issues will be resolved in Egypt, and says that the politics will probably get messy. He says the loss and damage finance can’t be avoided by the high-income countries due to the climate impacts of vulnerable countries.

The organizing of theCOP in Africa has changed according to Fouad. We expect more attention towards issues that are relevant to most developing countries, as such as food security, desertification, natural disasters and water scarcity. The COP is a chance for more African groups to be heard.

Whats At The Stake At The Cop27-Global-Clime-Negotiations? Some Recent Progress Towards a Less Constant Left Behind

Another effect is that many countries, especially in Europe, are scrambling to develop new sources of natural gas to replace imports of Russian gas. In order to keep the climate from getting worse, nearly all new coal, oil and gas have to stay in the ground.

But there have been positive developments as well. Wind and solar are growing at a rapid rate. The International Energy Agency predicts that demand for all fossil fuels will peak in the mid- to late-20th century.

Two of the largest emitters, China and India, plan to increase emissions until 2030. They’ve argued that their growing economies need the support of fossil fuels, as other wealthier countries have historically done.

The scientists warn that the global temperatures have already risen so much it is unavoidable to see sea level rise, extreme drought, heat waves and storms. Billions of people need to adapt to a hotter Earth.

But limiting emissions could avoid some of the most extreme impacts, like much more deadly heat waves, more flooding in coastal cities due to sea level rise and the loss of almost all coral reefs.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/11/07/1132796190/faq-whats-at-stake-at-the-cop27-global-climate-negotiations

The World is on a Highway to Climate Hell: High-Energy Leaders and Implications for the Future of the Middle East

They argue that wealthier nations should pay for the problems they caused, including the cultural losses that happen when towns and villages must relocate. The wealthier countries have agreed to discuss it, but haven’t committed to providing new funding.

It will require huge sums of money. There’s no one else who can do it. There’s lots of money to be made if emissions are eliminated from the global economy. The cost of not dealing with the problem could be ruinous.

In the United States alone, quickly cutting carbon emissions could grow the country’s economy by $3 trillion over the next 50 years, says Deloitte, the consulting firm. On the other hand, not doing enough to respond to climate change could cost the U.S. $14.5 trillion over the same period.

Experts say making good on that promise is crucial to keep poorer nations on board with efforts to cut emissions. The world is going to need more than $100 billion, and that’s only a fraction of it.

The world is on a highway to climate hell, according to the United Nations secretary general, who told many leaders gathered for the talks that they need to cooperate or perish.

“Is it not high time to put an end to all this suffering,” the summit’s host, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, told his fellow leaders. “Climate change will never stop without our intervention … Our time here is limited and we must use every second that we have.”

Antonio Guterres spoke loudly in his opening remarks. He warned that we were on a highway to climate hell.

He wants a new pact between rich and poor countries to cut emissions, with financial help, by 2040 and to stop using coal in rich nations by the same year. He called on the United States and China — the two biggest economies — to especially work together on climate, something they used to do until the last few years.

Most of the leaders are meeting Monday and Tuesday, just as the United States has a potentially policy-shifting midterm election. Then the leaders of the world’s 20 wealthiest nations will have their powerful-only club confab in Bali in Indonesia days later.

Leaders of China and India — both among the biggest emitters — appear to be skipping the climate talks, although underlings are here negotiating. The leader of the top polluting country, President Biden, is coming days later than most of the other presidents and prime ministers on his way to Bali.

“I am not very hopeful that we will see ambitious targets for climate change in these two days,” said NewClimate Institute scientist, Niklas Hohne. He said the invasion of Ukraine created energy and food crises that took away from climate action.

“We always want more” leaders, United Nations climate chief Simon Stiell said in a Sunday news conference. “But I believe there is sufficient (leadership) right now for us to have a very productive outcome.”

In addition to speeches by the leaders, the negotiations include innovative roundtable discussions that will provide some very powerful insights.

Climate Change and World Resources: Preparing for a Global Climate Meeting – Mr. Adow, M. Abdullahi, Ms. Purvis, the Environment Minister, and Environment Minister Mohammed Adow

“The historical polluters who caused climate change are not showing up,” said Mohammed Adow of Power Shift Africa. “Africa is the least responsible, the most vulnerable to the issue of climate change and it is a continent that is stepping up and providing leadership.”

Nigeria’s Environment Minister Mohammed Abdullahi called for wealthy nations to show “positive and affirmative” commitments to help countries hardest hit by climate change. The priority is to be aggressive with climate funding when it comes to managing the challenges of loss and damage.

They are both dramatic ones, one in Africa and another in Pakistan, in places that couldn’t afford it. World Resources International’s David Waskow said that the summit should focus its attention on the climate impacts we’re already seeing.

“We can’t discount an entire continent that has over a billion people living here and has some of the most severe impacts,” Waskow said. Africa will be at risk in a very severe way.

Purvis said that leaders come to share the progress they’ve made at home and accelerate action. In this case, with the passage of the first major climate legislation and $375 billion in spending, Biden has a lot to share, he said.

International climate negotiations got underway today with dire warnings about climate-driven disasters, pleas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and a plan for a new global weather early warning system.

He also referenced the fact that the global population is expected to officially hit 8 billion people during this climate meeting. “How will we answer when baby 8-billion is old enough to ask ‘What did you do for our world, and for our planet, when you had the chance?’” Guterres asked a room full of world leaders.

What is the money of preventing climate change? Prime Minister Barbados at the Global Climate Risk and Resilience Portal and the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership

About half the world isn’t covered by multi-hazard early warning systems, which collect data about disaster risk, monitor and forecast hazardous weather, and send out emergency alerts, according to the U.N.

In the next five years, $3.1 billion will be invested into establishing early-warning systems that do not exist in the most vulnerable countries and regions. More money will be needed to maintain the warning systems longer-term.

In her opening speech the Prime Minister of Barbados went a step further. She called out corporations that profit in our fossil-fuel intensive economy, including oil and gas companies themselves.

Those corporations should help pay for the costs associated with sea level rise, stronger hurricanes, heat waves and droughts around the world, she argued, and especially in places like her nation that are extremely vulnerable to climate change and don’t have the money to protect themselves.

“We want other organizations and communities to see where they’re potentially vulnerable to climate change and take steps to become resilient,” Charlene Lake, AT&T’s chief sustainability officer, said in a news release.

The Climate Risk and Resilience Portal will initially provide information about temperature, precipitation, wind and drought conditions. There are going to be additional risks in the coming months.

More than two dozen countries have agreed to work together to halt and reverse land degradation in order to fight climate change.

The European Union, along with 26 other countries, are members of the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership, which is chaired by the United States.

More than 140 countries agreed in Glasgow last year to protect and conserve forests. However, the U.N. said on Monday that not enough money is being spent to preserve forests, which capture and store carbon.

The ultimate goal of this year’s conference is in dispute. Wealthy countries want to help developing nations get rid of fossil fuels.

Thebiden Administration Tells It Will Tighten Controls on Methane a Greenhouse Gas: Why the Economy is Needing to Suppress Egypt

This year a growing number of Egyptians are calling for protests while world leaders are in Sharm el Sheikh to highlight Egypt’s abysmal human rights record. There are likely to be no demonstrations given that the President of Egypt Abdel Fatham el-Sisi banned all protests and criminalized free assembly.

Few other American presidents can claim the same environmental credentials as President Biden did at the UN climate talks. He used a landmark climate law that is investing $370 billion into the effort to speed the American economy away from fossil fuels. He has seeded climate policy across the federal government. The strongest regulation to date to reduce methane is planned by his administration.

Mr. Biden is confident that the Democrats will retain control of congress, thanks to the surprisingly strong showing of his party in the election.

“There is more than enough money in this economy,” said Wanjira Mathai, an environmentalist and activist from Kenya. $17 trillion showed up when Covid happened and the economies need to be shored up. There is money. We have a crisis in empathy.”

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/11/11/climate/cop27-climate-summit/the-biden-administration-says-it-will-tighten-controls-on-methane-a-greenhouse-gas

Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise: How the U.N. Climate Summit in Cairo will be viewed by Climate Scientists and Activists

Paul Bledsoe, a climate adviser under President Bill Clinton who now lectures at American University, said there was no way Mr. Biden would embrace the idea of loss and damage payments.

“America is culturally incapable of meaningful reparations,” he said. “Having not made them to Native Americans or African Americans, there is little to no chance they will be seriously considered regarding climate impacts to foreign nations. It is not a good idea in our domestic politics.

John Kerry, a climate envoy for Mr. Biden, proposed to let corporations invest in renewable-energy projects in developing countries that could allow them to claim the resulting cuts in greenhouse gases. Those so-called carbon offset initiatives are viewed skeptically by many climate scientists and activists, who see them as simply allowing companies to continue polluting.

Before addressing the gathering, Mr. Biden is scheduled to meet with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt and is expected to raise the case of Alaa Abd El Fattah, an Egyptian dissident whose hunger strike in prison has loomed over the summit. Mr. Abd El Fattah had said he would stop drinking water last Sunday, at the start of the COP27 summit. Representatives of nongovernmental groups have threatened to walk out of the conference if he dies.

Demonstrators, who are a mainstay at U.N. climate summits, have been muted all week at this gathering because of tight restrictions imposed by Mr. Sisi’s government. About 100 people from Fridays for Future, a youth-led and organizedclimate movement, and protesters urging a vegan diet made their presence known inside the area where the summit is held under the control of the United.

At my research institute, we work on projects to mitigate the sea level rise in the Nile Delta, and study its impact on farmers and people in the surrounding area.

There is a lot of uncertainty in the field and this makes it difficult to transform our research into practical projects that can be implemented immediately. High- performance computers can do it in one hour, compared to three months for computers we have access to. Delays in our research can be caused by the lack of supporting technologies.

My research focuses on finding strategies to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change and sea-level rise in the Nile Valley. I work with plant-breeding scientists at the University of Florida to find plants that will tolerate high levels of salinity and dry weather.

Even though we propose solutions, I don’t think it’s up to the scientists to translate their work into projects that work. So, I hope that with COP27, we can see immediate action to initiate the implementation of such projects before it’s too late.

I was a speaker at a session on climate-change adaptation, and did a talk about my start-up in another session at the Youth and Future Generations Day.

The company I co-founded, Recyclizer, collects plastic waste from the streets and recycles it into a mulch film that can be used to cover soil, protecting it from damage and reducing the amount of water needed for irrigation.

Climate Change and Sustainable Development in Egypt : Challenges and Opportunities for Research in the Private, Public and Government Sectors of a Country with Few Scientific Experts

In my research, I focused on how the private and public sectors affect the implementation of sustainable development goals and tackle climate change in Egypt.

Lack of data or poor access to data has been the greatest challenge for me. Others include access to research papers in science journals — as a researcher in a developing country, paying fees to access multiple international journals is an issue.