G20 countries under pressure to make bigger climate commitments at COP27

The United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP27, kicks off in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, next week, and climate change activists are pushing major emitters from developed countries to make greater commitments at the conference.

According to a recent report by the United Nations Environment Programme, the international community is still well below the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, with no credible path to keeping global temperature rise below the key threshold of 1.5C.

Governments’ carbon reduction plans are still inadequate and environmental leaders are calling on developed countries to do more.

“Seventy-five percent of all greenhouse gas emissions come from the G20, the 20 largest economies,” UN Environment Executive Director Inger Andersen told VOA in an exclusive interview. “They need to do more. And that’s the conversation we need to have at the COP in Sharm el-Sheikh, the Africa COP as we call it. They need to support themselves, both with money and with their own emissions reductions.”

The conference comes at a time when the Horn of Africa is suffering from record warnings of drought and famine in Somalia. Africa produces less than 4% of global emissions, but still suffers from the effects of global warming, including food insecurity, increased conflict and more severe weather events.

Thandile Chinyavanhu, a climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace Africa in South Africa, says the effects can be seen across the continent: “in the Horn of Africa, where the failed fourth rainy season is leading to famine in the country and similarly in Kenya’s semi-arid regions. We are seeing people in Mauritania and Nigeria affected by floods, where those floods have displaced around 1.3 million people. And we’ve seen it in South Africa as well.”

As these disasters continue to affect millions, COP27 provides an opportunity for the international community to continue negotiations on global goals that would address climate change.

Muhtari Amiku Kano, Director of Policy and Government Relations for Africa at the Nature Conservancy in Nairobi, listed three important investments: technology transfers, capacity building and deployment of adequate financial resources, “because without these three components, it will be just hot air.” and talk.”

According to Andersen, the way forward is also clear: “We are seeing renewable energy, solar power, electric vehicles, energy-efficient buildings, smart infrastructure becoming the thing. Let’s accelerate that, let’s just move forward. That’s so obvious.” «

Scientists say fighting climate change requires well-coordinated global action in which everyone has a role to play. Many pledges were made at last year’s COP26 conference in Glasgow and many will closely follow the discussions at the Sharm el-Shiekh conference.

Source: World News