As hundreds of world leaders descend on Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, for the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, officials are calling on rich nations to do more to stop climate change, issuing strong warnings from the first day of the summit.
At this year’s summit, one of the most contentious issues up for debate is the implementation of a “loss and damage” fund to help poorer countries recover from catastrophic effects of climate change, like typhoons and droughts.
Developing countries argue that, despite putting out fewer greenhouse gas emissions than other countries, they are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change and should be compensated. Wealthy countries have agreed to discuss the proposition.
A study released by Oxfam on the opening day of the summit found that billionaires release a million times more greenhouse gases than the average person. The study, based on 125 of the wealthiest billionaires, found that 70% of those emissions are tied to the billionaires’ investment portfolios.
COP27 began November 6, 2022, and will last until November 18, 2022. During the 2015 meeting, countries signed the Paris Agreement and agreed to slash emissions in order to keep catastrophic effects of climate change at bay. However, the majority of nations have fallen far behind their promises.
This article was first published on forbes.com
Further Reading
World is on ‘highway to climate hell’, UN chief warns at Cop27 summit (The Guardian)
Global leaders have a climate credibility problem – former U.S. Vice President Al Gore (Reuters)
COP27 Latest: Germany’s Scholz Accused of ‘Energy Colonialism’ (Bloomberg)
Billionaires emit a million times more greenhouse gases than the average person, study finds (CNN)