Finance, adaptation on Cop 27 agenda

Egyptian officials are hopeful the upcoming UN climate talks the country is hosting will lead to progress on issues including finance, loss and damage and adaptation.

The concern about "huge gaps" that need to be filled in how countries are addressing all of these issues will be on the agenda at the Cop 27 talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in November, Wael Aboulmagd, special representative of the Cop 27 president, told reporters today.

"It is now high time that we move our attentions and our focus collectively on the implementation. It is time to move from negotiation to implementation. It's time to move from pledges to actions on the ground," he said.

Progress on finance remains near of top of the Egyptian agenda for the Cop. Egyptian officials have previously said that the $100bn/yr financing pledge from developed countries needs to be fulfilled and scaled up, with more going to adaptation efforts.

"The current situation of climate finance leaves a lot to be desired," Aboulmagd said.

There needs to be a "better distribution" of funding, he said, noting that most of the pledged private sector money is going to developed countries, "leaving developing countries without appropriate finance."

The issue of loss and damage has been "front and center" at ministerial level meetings Egypt has held ahead of the Cop, Aboulmagd said, noting that many parties were frustrated by a lack of progress at last year's talks in Glasgow. The term refers to financial support for countries already suffering from climate-related events such as storms and sea level rise.

"It is a very sad situation that the issue of loss and damage has lagged behind for so long," he said. "No really denies the suffering. Everyone acknowledges is and everyone aggress something needs to be done."

Mitigation also remains a priority, with only a handful of countries having updated their nationally determined contributions (NDCs), or emissions-reduction pledges in the run up to the talks. But Egypt has received "promises from a number of countries" that they will announce new NDCs before the Cop, and others may do so during or after the talks conclude.

Aboulmagd also said Egypt is hopeful the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict will not interfere with progress at the Cop. The country is asking "everyone to rise to the occasion" and "put political differences aside" in order to support progress at the talks.

"Most importantly we urge everyone not to use this unfolding geopolitical situation as a pretext for backsliding," he said.

Egypt also plans to use the Cop to launch a number of new initiatives around issues such as agriculture and water use, some of which will focus on Africa, and could include announcements related to work the G7 is doing on loss and damage.

Egypt also wants to continue efforts announced at previous climate talks.

"We will follow up on some of the issues that came out of Glasgow," Aboulmagd said, but did not specific which ones, as Egypt is still working out the details with the "relevant players."

The Glasgow Cop included a number of government pledges to phase out the use of coal, reduce methane emissions and ending public financing of unabated coal, oil and gas projects overseas, along with private sector commitments to reduce emissions and invest in new technologies.

By Michael Ball