SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — Bold proposals to confront climate change were floated—and ignored or rejected. The often bogus “net zero” claims by companies and countries were called out. And the fate of an activist on a water and hunger strike continued to get attention, though the Egyptian government showed no signs of backing down.
These were some of the top storylines Tuesday at the U.N. climate summit being held in the Red Sea city of Sharm el-Sheikh. Known as COP27, the gathering of world leaders comes at a time of contrasts, competing needs and competition for attention.
Extreme weather events, exacerbated by climate change, are becoming more frequent and destructive. At the same time, the war in Ukraine has upended the green energy policies of many countries. And add to it all competing news events, such as the Midterm elections in the United States. All of these realities were palpable in the arguments leaders made.
TREATY ABOUT FOSSIL FUELS
While the science of climate change is well established, and leaders have been debating how to confront it for decades—this is the 27th summit, after all—greenhouse gas emissions continue to go up. At the same time, many people, from climate scientists to the secretary general of the United Nations, have repeatedly said that the world must not undertake new projects to produce fossil fuels. Instead, the world must move toward cleaner forms of energy, such as wind, solar and nuclear, on a bigger scale.