COP27 world climate conference opens in Sharm el Sheikh Thousands demonstrate in Peru against the president

COP27 world climate conference opened in Sharm el Sheikh Overshadowed by various crises, including energy and food, the COP27 world climate conference opened in Egypt. This year’s conference is part of a 30-year journey since the signing of the Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992, COP27 president, Egyptian Foreign Minister Samih Schukri, said at the start in the seaside town of Sharm el-Sheikh. on Sunday . Lessons must be learned from the devastating climate events in Pakistan, Africa, parts of Europe and America. Referring to the climate negotiations, Shukri said: “In zero-sum games, there are no winners.”

The chairman of last year’s COP26 conference in Glasgow, Alok Sharma, handed over the office to Schukri. “I fully recognize the magnitude of the challenge ahead,” Sharma said. Whole regions of the world have become uninhabitable and the pressure on many people to relocate is almost unimaginable. “This conference should be about concrete action,” Sharma demanded.

Sharma also criticized Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine in view of the climate crisis: “Putin’s brutal and illegal war in Ukraine has led to multiple global crises – energy and food insecurity, inflation pressures and a debt spiral,” Sharma said. These crises would have exacerbated pre-existing vulnerabilities to climate change.

In Sharm el Sheikh on the Red Sea, representatives of nearly 200 countries will spend two weeks discussing how to step up the fight against global warming. Time is of the essence as the past seven years have been the warmest since the weather records began. Another important topic is financial aid to poorer countries – also because the UN conference is taking place on the African continent for the first time since 2016. An estimated 40,000 participants are expected.

“No one can be just a passenger on this journey. This is a sign that times have changed»said UN climate chief Simon Stiell. “The core of the implementation is that everyone, everywhere in the world, is doing everything they can every day to tackle the climate crisis.” The voices of science on climate change and its impacts could hardly be “sharper, stronger and more sobering,” said Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) chairman Hoesung Lee.

Among the approximately 100 heads of state or government who will be in attendance are German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden, as well as new British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. He decided to participate only at short notice. According to excerpts of a speech scheduled for Monday, released in advance, Sunak wants to warn not to fall short of the promises made at last year’s conference in Glasgow. The conservative politician wants to make his own country a “green energy superpower”.

Despite repeated criticism, the Human Rights Watch organization sees no improvement in human rights in Egypt. “As COP27 participants arrive, it is clear that the Egyptian government has no intention of easing its illegitimate security measures.”Adam Coogle, who is responsible for North Africa at the organization, said Sunday. This also applies to the severely curtailed freedom of expression and assembly in Egypt. At COP27, protests are only allowed at certain times and in a designated area. (saw/sda/dpa)