23:00 No agreement has been reached so far on Loss and Damage financing. The differences still persist and there is no consensus among the participants. Talks are set to continue overnight. As the conference draws to an end, we seem to be heading for a tense Friday in the hope of reaching a deal.
22:30 Solutions Day
The final thematic day at COP27, provided a platform for the multi-disciplinary participation of partners and relevant stakeholders to demonstrate the link between innovative solutions and efforts to enhance climate action.
Solutions Day marked the launch of several key initiatives related to low-carbon transport, greening national budgets, sustainable urban development, and the global methane pledge.
20:30 African civil society groups have expressed their disappointment at the prospect of delaying decisions on the issue of Loss and Damage – which is one of the most pressing issues on the agenda of the UN climate summit (COP27) currently underway in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheik city – till 2024.
In a statement on Thursday, the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) – a consortium of more than 1,000 organisations from 48 African countries – urged world leaders to adopt actions that reflect the scale and urgency of the climate crisis.
The PACJA added that Africans participated in the COP27 talks with the hope that "concrete" outcomes on climate issues – including Loss and Damage – be materialized.
18:20 In a press conference with UN Secretary General António Guterres, COP27 President Sameh Shoukry asserted that progress has been achieved on a large number of issues.
“It is evidently clear that at this late stage of a COP27 process there are still a number of issues where progress remains lacking with persisting divergent views amongst parties,” said Shoukry.
He added that “while some of the discussions were constructive and positive, others did not reflect the expected recognition of the need to move collectively to address the gravity and urgency of the climate crisis.”
Shoukry went on to say that the mitigation work program is yet to reach the desired outcome and that adaptation is still held back by procedural matters. He pointed out that ambitious outcomes on finance have not yet materialised, and that loss and damage parties are shying away from taking the difficult political decisions.
"I urge all parties to go the extra mile, take the necessary steps to reach the much-needed conclusions and agreements," he concluded.
17:30 UN Secretary General António Guterres appeals to World leaders to find a solution and an agreement on the 'Loss and damages' financing amid reports of tensions between negotiators.
"We are at crunch time in the negotiations. COP27 is scheduled to close in 24 hours – and the Parties remain divided on a number of significant issues.
"There is clearly a breakdown in trust between North and South, and between developed and emerging economies. This is no time for finger pointing.
The blame game is a recipe for mutually assured destruction.
"I am here to appeal to all parties to rise to this moment and to the greatest challenge facing humanity.
"The world is watching and has a simple message: stand and deliver."
16:30 UN climate talks were deadlocked Thursday over calls to create a special fund to cover the losses suffered by vulnerable nations hit by natural disasters, raising the risk that negotiations could collapse.
With the two-week COP27 conference officially due to finish on Friday, negotiators in Egypt said the talks would likely go on overnight as they scramble to find a compromise over the contentious issue.
"We are out of time and we are out of money and we are out of patience," Ralph Regenvanu, minister of climate change for the Pacific island of Vanuatu, said at a news conference.
"We must establish at this COP27 a loss and damage finance facility."
16:00 The Egyptian Ministry of Environment launched the Global Waste Initiative 50 by 2050 to address the crisis of waste management in Africa and encourage more investments in developing ecological systems in this regard.
During the launch, Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad said the initiative seeks to benefit from the voluntary participation of more than 180 countries, present at COP27, in launching such an initiative at the global level.
The ambitious initiative seeks to treat and recycle at least 50 percent of solid waste in Africa by 2050, the minister noted.
Fouad affirmed that green transition does not contradict with development, noting that transition toward green economy promises huge economic gains estimated to amount to $23 trillion by 2030.
15:00 Egypt’s Minister of Transport Kamel El-Wazir announced the launch of the COP27 Presidency’s Low Carbon Transport for Urban Sustainability (LCO2TUS) initiative in the presence of international financial institutions and high-level officials.
The initiative aims to provide support for just, healthy, and flexible green transport systems in developing countries and globally over the coming ten months, until COP28 in Dubai, El-Wazir said during the launch.
14:40 Ellie Goulding UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador speaks about reefs and the need for actions to protect them.
14:30 Israel and Jordan signed a declaration of intent on Thursday at the U.N. climate conference to conserve and protect the Jordan River which they both share. The river is almost running dry because of climate change, pollution and other threats.
The agreement marks an important, albeit initial, step in cooperation.
``Cleaning up the pollutants and hazards, restoring water flow and strengthening the natural ecosystems will help us prepare and adapt to the climate crisis,'' said Israeli Minister of Environmental Protection Tamar Zandberg.
Jordan's state-run Petra news agency said the plan will hopefully increase water supplies and create job opportunities ``for those living on both sides of the Jordan River, including Palestinians.``
14:15 Germany announced Thursday that it is increasing the amount it provides each year to help countries adapt to climate change to 60 million euros (dollars).
Germany, which previously provided 50 million euros a year, is the biggest single donor of the Adaptation Fund.
The fund has disbursed more than $900 million for projects in almost 100 countries since 2010.
14:00 Egypt’s Minister of Planning Hala El-Said launched the Friends of Greening National Investment Plans for Africa and Developing Countries Initiative to capitalise on success stories of the initiative’s partners to tackle the impact of climate change on these countries.
The initiative, supported by the UN Development Program (UNDP), was launched in partnership with several countries, regional and international organisations, and financial institutions, El-Said noted during the launch.
The friends of the initiative will voluntarily work on increasing the share of green projects in their national investment plans by at least 30 percent by 2030, El-Said said.
13:45 Egypt’s Minister of Local Development Hisham Amna and Minister of International Cooperation Rania El-Mashat launched the Egyptian Sustainable Cities Initiative in cooperation with the World Bank to enhance sustainable solutions in Egyptian cities.
The initiative is meant to increase cities' role in facing climate change by developing a strategic plan to implement multidimensional sustainability as well as programmes and projects to achieve sustainable development, the international cooperation ministry said in a statement.
The initiative is integrated with Egypt’s presidential initiative Haya Karima (Decent Life) to prepare the countryside for green transformation, El-Mashat said during the launch.
The ministry’s current portfolio of development cooperation includes 33 projects at a value of $1.8 billion to implement ambitious projects that enhance the sustainability of Egyptian cities, El-Mashat noted.
13:30 A ``Lula lovefest'' continued in Sharm el-Sheikh, as Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who in his past term made great strides in fighting deforestation, grabbed more attention during a session about youth activism and participation in government.
On Wednesday, crowds cheered him on, criticizing rich nations and calling for the climate summit to come to the Amazon. His predecessor is often criticized for lack of action on climate change.
Brazilian president-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (L) attends a meeting with representatives of Brazilian civil society during the COP27 climate conference in Egypt's Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh on November 17, 2022. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP)
13:00 The Marshall Islands' climate envoy said small island nations don't want the COP27 meeting to end without an agreement on loss and damage funding.
``Waiting for the next COP or even COP29 is not an option for us. We're not walking away without this fund,'' Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner said at a press panel. ``We've been really clear. We need the fund now and it needs to be a fund.''
She said momentum is gaining around the idea of a funding mechanism for loss and damage suffered by developing countries bearing the brunt of climate change. ``We're doing our best to keep holding the line and pushing the ambition.''
The Marshall Islands are a chain of islands between Hawaii and the Philippines, most of which are no more than two meters (6.5 feet) above sea level.
12:45 Sherry Rehman, climate minister for Pakistan, said developing countries would continue to press hard for a deal on the issue of `loss and damage' at this year's U.N. climate talks in Egypt.
Rehman told reporters Thursday that the group of countries she chairs, known as G77 and China, wants ``at the very least a political announcement of intent'' on rich polluters providing new financial aid to poor nations for the effects of global warming.
She made clear that she didn't not expect ``a slew of finance'' to result from the meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh but added that ``if this continues to be kicked down the road we will see it as a climate justice denied.''
Rehman said she was aware that some countries ``are anxious about liabilities and judicial proceedings.''
``I think we can work around all those anxieties,'' she said. ``The idea here is not to make any one country or group of countries uncomfortable or put them in an adversarial position.''
12:30 Senior western officials have met with COP 27 President Sameh Shoukry amid concerns that negotiators may not be able to reach an agreement.
Alok Sharma, the British official who chaired last year's talks in Glasgow, the EU's climate chief Frans Timmermans and Canada's Climate Minister Steven Guilbeault told Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry that ``there are still lot of gaps remaining'' in the draft decisions.
Sharma's office said the three officials told Shoukry that the recent pledge made by the Group of 20 major developed and emerging economies in Bali ``should be the baseline and not a ceiling'' at the climate talks, known as COP27.
``The last thing anyone wants is for this COP to end without consensus,'' they said, according to Sharma's office.
Demonstrators participate in a sit-in calling for reparations for loss and damage at the COP27 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. (Photo AP )
12:15 A Russian billionaire under sanctions by the United States and Europe over his alleged ties to the Kremlin said Wednesday that he was not surprised by protests against his country at this year's U.N. climate talks, but insisted that Russia wants to remain engaged on the issue of global warming because it deeply affects the nation.
Andrey Melnichenko, who heads the climate policy panel of Russian business lobby group RSPP, told The Associated Press that ``regardless of the very terrible moment which we all experience now, we will participate, we will observe'' at the meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
12:00 Parties at COP27 have unanimously agreed to the text on the institutional arrangements to the Santiago Network on Loss and Damage (SNLD) to provide technical assistance to countries and communities impacted by climate change.
An Advisory Board to the SNLD will be formed as part of the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) on loss and damage.
Agreement was also reached on a “secretariat that will facilitate its work, to be known as the Santiago network secretariat” which will help provide technical assistance to developing countries to avert, minimise, and address loss and damage. The Advisory Board will oversee and guide the work of the Santiago network secretariat.
“The most watched issue of loss and damage finance is completely deadlocked, with strong resistance from developed countries to having any financial entity or mechanism in the UNFCCC to address loss and damage in a meaningful manner to address the dire needs of developing countries”, says Third World Network (TWN), the independent non-profit international research and advocacy organiation that is observing the negotiations
11:45 At the opening of Solutions Day, COP 27 President Sameh Shoukry said the day is in line with the goal of implementing climate pledges, the theme that the Egyptian COP27 presidency has chosen for the conference.
Shoukry, also Egypt's Foreign Minister, said the Solutions Day provides an opportunity to exchange views and expertise and to figure out new, innovative, and comprehensive solutions for the global climate crisis.
He stressed that tackling climate change and the activation of various climate solutions require cooperation between all parties concerned with climate action, including governments, the private sector, civil society organisations, regional and international groups, and development partners.
11:30 The Independent global environmental network Greenpeace International has criticised the Egyptian COP27 presidency’s non-paper document on the conference, describing it as “pushing the pedal to the metal on the highway to climate hell.”
Greenpeace said the document lacks a recipe for real action on meeting and increasing climate finance and adaptation commitments; phasing out of fossil fuels; and mechanisms for rich countries to pay for the loss and damage to other states hit by climate change or ways to set up a Loss and Damage Finance Fund.
11:15 In the opening session of the day, COP27 President Sameh Shoukry urged various parties to take advantage of the opportunities offered in the construction of sustainable cities, developing green transport modes, and building waste management systems in order to counter and adapt to the impact of climate change.
He added that Egypt has prepared initiatives to promote climate solutions and ensure that all parties fulfill their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to reduce emissions and fulfill the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Climate activists protest outside the Sharm el-Sheikh International Convention Centre, during the COP27 climate conference in Egypt's Red Sea resort city of the same name, on November 17, 2022.
10:50 French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday backed a proposal by Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to hold a 2025 United Nations climate conference in the Amazon rainforest.
"I fervently hope that we can have a COP in the Amazon so I fully support this initiative by Lula," Macron said during a trip to Bangkok for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
"I support the return of Brazil on an Amazon strategy. We need it," he added.
10:00 The Egyptian Ministry of International Cooperation signed nine cooperation agreements worth 160 million euros with Germany in various sectors, including developing education and upgrading infrastructure as Egypt moves forward toward a green transition.
09:30 German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Germany is raising climate funds, pledging 60 million euros to adaptation funds and calling for developed countries to pay their shares in loss and damage.
"Climate fund is not charity. It is about responsibility,” Baerbock said on the COP27 Solutions Day.
09:15 The events of the “Working Together for Implementation: Solutions Day” on Thursday will show how far the world countries have come locally and globally in their efforts towards mitigation and adaptation, the Egyptian Ministry of Environment said.
“We will also have a glimpse at what our future might look like if we coordinate together, using emerging technologies, equitable funding support, and holistic responses to combat our climate change challenges,” the ministry stressed.
With two days to go in the COP27, negotiations between the parties to reach any consensus on a cover text - a political agreement that is agreed-upon at the end of a UN climate conference per tradition – are far from nearing conclusion as major players continue debating various contentious files.
09:00 In the early hours of Thursday morning, the Egyptian presidency of the COP27 published a second sketch of the “elements” that a cover text might include, but, according to observers, developed countries and developing ones are not yet close to agreeing on a mutually-satisfying middle ground.
The draft reiterates the need for world countries to limit the average global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and urges developed countries to meet a pledge to mobilise $100 billion a year to tackle climate change. It also includes a call for developed countries to achieve ``net-negative carbon emissions by 2030''
The draft calls for raising ambitions to close the mitigation gap, highlights the urgency of adaptation, and urges addressing loss and damage.
However, some NGOs have expressed their frustration with the document for falling short to meet a number of climate goals, including the need to agree on launching a fund for loss and damage and ensuring a managed phase-out of all fossil fuels.
Day 11, 17 November - Solutions Day
15:00-18:00 Plenary meetings and meetings of groups of the Convention and Protocol bodies
CLOSING PLENARIES COP 27/CMP 17/CMA 4
Relive
COP27, Day 1: Loss and damage funding introduced as an agenda item (Click here).
COP27, Day 2: Sisi urges world leaders to move to concrete action on climate (Click here).
COP27, DAY 3: President launches the 'Sharm el-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda' (Click here).
COP27, Day 4: Climate finance in a polycrisis era (Click here).
COP27, Day 5: Science and Future Generations Day (Click here).
COP27, Day 6: Decarbonisation challenge (Click here).
COP27, Day 7: Adaptation and Agriculture (Click here).
COP27, Day 8: Gender & Water Day (Click here).
COP27, Day 9: Civil society & Energy (Click here).
COP27, Day 10: Biodiversity (Click here)
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