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Cop27 - live: Boris Johnson jokes UK heatwave sparked turmoil which led to No 10 exit

Boris Johnson has joked heatwave which swept through the UK over the summer might have been the cause of the political turmoil which has riven Westminster in recent months.

On 19 July, less than two weeks after Mr Johnson resigned as prime minister, the UK recorded temperatures above 40C for the first time since records began – a sweltering start to a drawn-out Tory leadership contest which appointed Liz Truss, whose mini-Budget spooked the markets, as his replacement.

Speaking to The New York Times in Egypt, the former prime minister appeared to attack Ms Truss as he urged leaders to resisit calls to put the struggle against climate change “on ice” and “frack the hell out of the British countryside” – a controversial method of shale gas extraction backed by his short-lived successor.

Mr Johnson also referred to himself as the “spirit of Glasgow Cop26” as he urged delegates at in Sharm-el-Sheikh to “keep 1.5 alive.”

He referred to the Cop27 climate summit as “precious and important” in the face of the “corrosive cynicism against net zero” provoked by Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.

It has been a tumultuous 12 months since the last summit in Glasgow. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to global energy shortfalls, triggering cost of living crises in rich countries and leaving some poorer nations on the brink of famine.

Key Points

  • PM has no credibility on climate, says Caroline Lucas

  • Sunak to use Cop27 to raise migrant crossings with Macron

  • Rishi Sunak accused of ‘vacuum of leadership’ as climate summit gets underway

  • Sunak to ask world leaders to live up to their climate promises

  • No progress without global leadership, says UK’s former climate envoy

  • Climate compensation for hardest hit countries on Cop agenda for first time

Egyptian rights activists divided over holding Cop27 in ‘climate of fear’

13:01 , Andy Gregory

Our climate correspondent Saphora Smith reports:

As world leaders descend on Sharm el-Sheikh, Egyptian activists are divided as to whether holding Cop27 under what they say is one of the most repressive governments in Egypt’s history amounts to an offence or an opportunity.

“Egypt is enmeshed in a full-scale human rights crisis,” said Hossam Bahgat, a prominent Egyptian human rights activist who says he has been banned from leaving the country since 2016 and has had his assets frozen. “Our current government has one of the worst records of human rights around the world.”

Mr Bahgat, founder of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, added: “The fear of reprisals after Cop is very much on everyone’s mind here ... We had to make a choice because the alternative would have been to stay silent and not make the best use of this big opportunity that Cop27 presents for us.”

Egyptian rights activists divided over holding Cop27 in ‘climate of fear’

Sunak and von der Leyen ‘reflect on progress and challenges since Cop27’

12:47 , Andy Gregory

Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen have discussed climate breakdown, the Northern Ireland Protocol and war in Ukraine during a meeting at Cop27, his office has said.

The British prime minister and European Commission president “reflected on the progress and challenges since Cop26 in Glasgow, committing to work together to speed up the transition to renewables and mobilise finance for developing countries”, a Downing Street spokesperson said.

Young people are forced to act as adults to fight climate crisis, Uganda youth activist says

12:38 , Andy Gregory

Our climate correspondent Saphora Smith reports from inside Cop27 in Sharm el-Sheikh:

Leah Namugerwa, a young climate activist from Uganda, said she and her fellow youth activists had been forced to act as adults because planet Earth is being destroyed.

“We cannot watch as our … home mother earth burning, heating in drought,” she said.

She said her generation didn’t know if they were being heard when they spoke, or whether they were simply being ignored.

“I don’t see justice when big polluters are untouchable,” she said.

Ms Namugerwa is known for leading a campaign to plant more trees and said she had a goal of planting a million trees: “What is your goal?” she asked.

Ms Namugerwa called on world leaders to speak as if there is an emergency happening, and asked them how they wanted to be remembered.

“We have faced decades of inaction from world leaders,” she said. “Men in office, how are you going to be remembered – do you wish to be remembered as one who did a lot of nothing while in power?”

Leah Namugerwa laments ‘decades of inaction’ (Saphora Smith/The Independent)
Leah Namugerwa laments ‘decades of inaction’ (Saphora Smith/The Independent)

Sunak and Ruto congratulate one another on leadership wins

12:25 , Emily Atkinson

Rishi Sunak and Kenya’s president William Ruto have offered their mutual congratulations on recently taking office as they met at the Sharm El-Sheikh UN climate summit.

The pair smiled and shook hands at the start of their bilateral meeting, reports PA.

Mr Ruto, who won Kenya’s August presidential elections, has said climate would be key to his government’s agenda and that he would take a leading role in negotiating the delivery of finance and technology to Africa to support nations dealing with the impacts of climate change.

UAE president says their oil and gas is among 'lowest emissions in world'

12:10 , Emily Atkinson

Stuti Mistra from inside Cop27

The president of the United Arab Emirates, which is host to the next UN climate summit in 2023, told the world leaders at Cop27 that the country will remain a supplier of oil and gas for “as long as the world is in need”.

Calling itself a “responsible supplier” of fossil fuel that the United Nations climate summit is aiming to phase down, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said at the world leader plenary session that oil and gas from the UAE is among the lowest carbon fossil fuels in the world.

However, that only includes the emissions during the production of these fossils and not of the customers that burn it.Next year’s Cop28 summit, to be hosted in Dubai’s Expo City, will include the “first evaluation of the implementation of the Paris Climate Accords”, he said.

 (Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

‘Planet has become a world of suffering’: Egypt’s El Sisi welcomes leaders at Cop27 with warning

11:55 , Emily Atkinson

Egypt’s president Adbel El-Sisi kicked off the world leaders summit at the red sea town of Sharm el Sheikh asking nations to address the “thorny difficult questions” on climate change.

Leaders from over a a hundred countries have arrived in Egypt with many of them, including UK prime minister Rishi Sunak, set to address the gathering later in the day.

“People around the world have thorny difficult questions, and we must address these questions … Have we faced our responsibilities, as leaders, to address climate change and protect the vulnerable? Can we achieve our goals? Can we all work together? Do we have any other choice?” he asked in his opening address.

The Egyptian president said the planet has become “a world of suffering” due to climate crisis.

“We have seen one catastrophe after another. As soon as we tackle one, another arises. Wave after wave of suffering.”“Humanity can surely be just to those who are not responsible for producing so much suffering. Every government knows what it must do.”

UN chief says world is on the 'highway to climate hell'

11:39 , Emily Atkinson

Saphora Smith from inside Cop27

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told delegates on Monday that the world was on the “highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator.”

Addressing delegates on Monday, Mr Guterres, who is famous for not mincing his words, said the world was fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos “irreversible.”

He told delegates that the war in Ukraine and other conflicts had caused so much bloodshed and violence and had dramatic impacts acrossthe world but that the world could not accept that our attention is not focused on climate change.

“Climate change is on a different timeline, and a different scale,” he said. “It is the defining issue of our age… It is unacceptable, outrageous and self-defeating to put it on the back burner.”

At Cop27 itself, he said he was calling for a “historic pact” to be formed between developed and emerging economies, in which all countries make an “extra” effort to reduce emissions this decade in line with the 1.5C goal, in which financial assistance is given to emerging economies to transition to renewables, and in which countries agree to end dependence on fossil fuels.

As for the contentious issue of loss and damage, he said it could not be swept under the rug. Vulnerable countries have called for a funding mechanism for nations that have suffered permanent losses and irreparable damage from the climate crisis.

“It is a moral imperative,” he said. “It is a fundamental question of international solidarity -- and climate justice.”

It was announced on Sunday that for the first time in the history of the UN climate summit that loss and damage would be on the agenda.

Boris Johnson declares himself ‘the spirit of Glasgow’ at Cop27

11:25 , Emily Atkinson

Boris Johnson jokes about climate change causing his downfall as PM

11:15 , Emily Atkinson

Boris Johnson has joked about soaring temperatures from climate change being one possible reason for his removal from Downing Street this summer.

The former prime minister suggested record-breaking temperatures of 40C in July helped spark the Tory rebellion which saw him forced out of No 10.

“Climate change effects are all too real and visible even in the UK,” Mr Johnson said at Cop27 in Egypt. “Temperatures in London this July reached 40C, almost unbearable by UK standards.”

Adam Forrest reports:

Boris Johnson jokes about climate change causing his downfall as PM

Sunak made a ‘big mistake’ in saying he would not attend Cop27

10:58 , Emily Atkinson

Sir Keir Starmer has hit out at Rishi Sunak over his initial decision not to attend Cop27 in Egypt, promising that a Labour prime minister would work to “pull leaders together” on climate change.

Speaking to reporters during a visit to Imperial College London, the Labour leader said: “The first difference a Labour government would make is that you would have a prime minister who wanted to go to Cop because we realise just how important it is, because we realise that is not just about climate, it is also about the cost of living, it is about energy, it is about the next generation of jobs.

“You would have a prime minister, a Labour prime minister, on the world stage, pulling leaders together. I think Rishi Sunak made a big mistake in saying initially he wouldn’t go, because it gave the impression that the UK no longer wants to be leading on the global stage.

“I think that is a mistake for our country, it is a mistake globally and I think it is a mistake for the climate crisis, which we have got to handle.”

What is on the agenda today?

10:40 , Saphora Smith

Cop27 kicked off in the Egyptian resort town on Sunday when Britain handed over the Cop presidency to Egypt. Day two will see world leaders - including French president Emmanuel Macron, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, and British prime minister Rishi Sunak - address delegates, setting out their priorities for the summit.

Cop27 has been dubbed the “implementation Cop” because its aim is to make progress on transforming pledges into action on the ground, as well as strengthening commitments to tackle the crisis.

Success will be reliant on goodwill among national delegations and domestic appetite for reform, both of which have been put under strain by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But the United Nations has made it clear that the world needs to act if it wants to avoid climate catastrophe.

In the run up to the event, the United Nations warned that instead of being on track to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent by 2030, the world was on track for emissions to increase by more than 10 per cent. This means there is “no credible” pathway in place to reach 1.5C by the end of the century, it said.

Boris Johnson attacks ‘nonsense’ from Tory net zero skeptics

10:18 , Adam Forrest

Boris Johnson – who claimed to be “spirit of Glasgow Cop26” – attacked net zero sceptics in the Tory party during an event at the Cop27 summit in Egypt.

The former prime minister warned against a “corrosive cynicism” about the economic cost on action to bring down carbon emissions.

“There are people who have drawn the conclusion that the whole project of net zero needs to be delayed, mothballed and put on ice – that we need, for instance, to reopen coal-fired power stations and frack the hell out of the British countryside,” he said.

“We really need to tackle this nonsense head on,” said the former PM, who singled out his old Brexit ally David Frost for special criticism.

Referring to Lord Frost’s description of wind power as “medieval technology”, Mr Johnson said: “I would point out that burning oil is positively paleolithic.”

Cop27 kicks off amid heightened security and under hazy skies

10:08 , Emily Atkinson

Saphora Smith, Louise Boyle and Stuti Mishra from inside Cop27:

The second day of Cop27 kicked off in Sharm el-Sheikh amid high levels of security and under hazy skies.

The Egyptian resort town is bursting with Cop27 delegates, seen flagging down shuttle buses on the side of the road, and attempting to navigate the maze that is the Tonino Lamborghini conference centre.

Those whose accommodation fell through have been left frantically trying to find other options or facing sky-high rates.

John Kerry was spotted heading to the delegation pavilions, while Boris Johnson has already made headlines before Britain’s prime minister Rishi Sunak has had a chance to speak during the high-level summit scheduled for later on Monday.

The political side of the summit will truly get underway when heads of state and government address delegates, their electorate, and the world starting at 1pm local time (11 am UK) time.

Sunak holds climate talks with Italy’s Meloni in Egypt

09:57 , Emily Atkinson

Rishi Sunak has met with Italy’s new far-right leader Giorgia Meloni at the Cop27 climate summit in Egypt.

The pair spoke about house building and planning while journalists were in the room at the start of the bilateral meeting.

The PM and Ms Meloni, Italy’s first woman premier, took office within days of each other last month.

Ms Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party leads the country’s first far-right-led government since the World War II.

I am the spirit of Glasgow Cop26, says Boris Johnson

09:22 , Emily Atkinson

Boris Johnson referred to himself as the “spirit of Glasgow Cop26” as he urged delegates at in Sharm-el-Sheikh to “keep 1.5 alive.”

Speaking to The New York Times in Egypt, the former prime minister referred to the Cop27 climate summit as “precious and important” in the face of the “corrosive cynicism against net zero” provoked by Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine.

Mr Johnson appeared to attack Liz Truss as he urged leaders to resisit calls to put the struggle against climate change “on ice” and “frack the hell out of the British countryside” – a controversial method of shale gas extraction backed by his short-lived successor.

He also suggested that the 40C highs recorded in the UK over the summer might have been the cause of the political turmoil which has riven Westminster in recent months.

The ex-PM went on to urge delegates to maintain the momentum from Cop26 in Glasgow which he said “defied some of the gloomier media expectations”, insisting that “now is not the moment to abandon net zero.”

Cop27: What's on the agenda today?

08:50 , Emily Atkinson

Sunak can attend Cop27 due to ‘vast’ work done on Budget, says Shapps

08:37 , Emily Atkinson

Grant Shapps has said Rishi Sunak is able to attend Cop27 because of the “vast amount” of work that has been completed on the forthcoming Autumn Budget.

The business secretary told Sky News: “I think the chancellor is still working very hard on it and I know that I’ve been working with the PM, the chancellor ... on the business, the climate, the energy aspects of that.

“I think the vast amount of work’s been done and so (Mr Sunak) felt it was appropriate to leave the country.

“But as ever ... his first priority is to make sure that, particularly with that rather choppy period that we’ve been through, that things are stabilised here.”

Sturgeon urges delegates to build on Cop26 commitments

08:14 , Emily Atkinson

Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon has said it is important that Cop27 builds on Cop26, as the next couple of weeks are “crucial now to our chances of keeping 1.5 alive.”

Speaking from Cop27 in Egypt, she told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “I think Glasgow was a success, we didn’t get everything that had been hoped for going into Glasgow but I think the feeling coming out of Cop26 was that it was a good foundation to build on.

“It will only count if it is implemented, the commitments around keeping 1.5 degrees alive, the commitments around climate finance, mitigation, adaptation, crucially loss and damage, that now has to be implemented and this Cop here in Egypt is all about implementation.

“So, what happens here over the next couple of weeks is absolutely crucial now to our chances of keeping 1.5 alive and, to be blunt about it, saving the planet for generations to come.”

PM has no credibility on climate, says Caroline Lucas

07:53 , Emily Atkinson

Rishi Sunak has “no credibility” when he urges delegates in Egypt to stick to commitments made at the Cop26 climate summit held in Glasgow last year, the co-leader of the Green Party has said.

Posting on Twitter this morning, as the UN climate conference in Egypt moves into its second day, Caroline Lucas attacked the prime minister for telling other nations to uphold the 2021 commitment to reduce the use of coal when his own government has a poor record on mitigating climate change.

She said: “PM has no credibility when he urges others at #COP27 to keep Glasgow commitments when his own Govt hasn’t met finance pledges, hasn’t raised ambition of UK emission cuts, is continuing fossil fuel subsidies, won’t rule out new coal & is greenlighting more oil & gas #WalkTheTalk.”

Sunak to use Cop27 to raise migrant crossings with Macron

07:33 , Emily Atkinson

Rishi Sunak to set to raise resolutions to the migrant crisis with French president Emmanuel Macron when they meet for the first time in Egypt on Monday.

Ahead of the Cop27 climate summit, the PM told The Sun his “key priority” at the conference was resolving the crisis of small boats crossing the Channel.

“I have spent more time working on that in the last few days than anything else other than the autumn statement,” he said.

The UK and France are “close” to allowing Border Force staff on the beaches, the newspaper reports, with the PM insisting he will continue to push for a deal with Mr Macron.

“We have to get a grip, do a range of things to stop it from happening, return people who shouldn’t be here in the first place.”

 (Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

Cop27 must be about implementation – anything less would be shameful

07:15 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

The importance of the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference, Cop27, in Egypt cannot be overstated.

The World Meteorological Organisation, the UN’s weather and climate body, on Sunday released its annual State of the Global Climate report which stated that the target to limit temperature rises to 1.5C was “barely within reach”.

The United Nations warned last month that there is “no credible” pathway in place to rein in global temperature rise to 1.5C degrees, and only “root and branch” transformation can save the planet from disaster.

Pursuing efforts to limit the temperature to 1.5C degrees and “well below” 2C degrees was the agreement that came out of the landmark conference in Paris in 2015, and the conference held in Glasgow last year aimed at keeping that target alive.

The disappointment was clear when Alok Sharma, the president of that 26th conference, said that it did so but “with a weak pulse”.

It is obvious that the same cannot happen again, that we cannot keep kicking the can down the road. The watchword now is implementation.

Read The Independent’s editorial here.

Editorial: Cop27 must be about implementation – anything less would be shameful

Fears UK will break climate crisis pledge after failure to reveal funding

07:00 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Ministers have been told to come clean on suspicions the UK will break promises to fund climate crisis help for poorer nations after failing to set out what money is being provided.

As the crucial Cop27 summit opens, the government is refusing to set out its recent contributions to a crucial global fund – despite Boris Johnson pledging to boost spending to an average of £2.3bn a year.

Figures seen by The Independent show only £1.3bn was paid in 2020, the most recent statistic provided, as rich nations were condemned for failing to meet a $100bn annual target set a decade earlier.

Rob Merrick reports.

Fears UK will break climate crisis pledge after failure to reveal funding

Voices | There is no climate justice without climate finance

06:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

This year’s flood in Nigeria has affected millions of people: homes, farms, schools – our country has lost billions of dollars to the damages.

It has affected more than two-thirds of Nigeria, which makes it a total disaster. Yet this is just one of the several realities of the climate crisis we are faced with. This has been our reality for a very long time.

Currently, in my region – west Africa – the climate crisis is exacerbating armed conflict and violence between farmers and herders, due to resources control and the loss of livelihoods. It is the same in other regions of Africa.

Climate change is driving hunger, food insecurity and poverty due to environmental instability. It is so widespread that a simple “loss and damage fund” is not negotiable, writes Oladosu Adenike.

Opinion: There is no climate justice without climate finance

Brazil, Indonesia and Congo in talks to form rainforest alliance

06:04 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Brazil’s newly-elected president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is reportedly in talks with two other major rainforest nations to form a strategic alliance in an effort to unlock conservation funding at the Cop27 climate summit.

Before winning the general elections, Lula began reaching out to Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) about forming a united front of tropical forest countries, nicknamed “Opec for rainforests”.

The three nations combined are home to 52 per cent of the world’s remaining primary tropical forests, which are crucial to prevent climate catastrophe.

“An alliance of countries such as Brazil, Indonesia and the DRC – who all face similar threats – can put pressure on richer countries to accelerate efforts to stop deforestation,” Annisa Rahmawati, head of Indonesian conservation group Satya Bumi, told Reuters.

ICYMI | Climate protesters stop private planes from taking off

05:45 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Hundreds of environmental activists blocked private jets from leaving Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in a demonstration on the eve of the Cop27 climate conference in Egypt.

Footage showed Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion activists cycling around the planes at the transport hub, before others sat down in front of private jets to prevent them from leaving.

Hundreds of other climate activists occupied the airport’s main hall and carried signs that “more trains” and “restrict aviation”.

Dewi Zloch of Greenpeace Netherlands said the activists want “fewer flights, more trains and a ban on unnecessary short-haul flights and private jets.”

Joe Middleton has more.

Climate protesters on bikes stop private planes from taking off ahead of Cop27 summit

UN summit puts climate compensation on agenda for the first time

05:22 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

World leaders at the Cop27 summit in Egypt have agreed to negotiate for the first time whether rich nations should compensate vulnerable poor countries for their suffering related to climate change.

Funding for countries that have suffered permanent losses and irreparable damage from the climate crisis, termed “loss and damage”, has been placed on the agenda.

“Getting finance for Loss and Damage in the agenda for Cop27 is a definite win for developing countries,” Dr Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) in Bangladesh told The Independent in Sharm el-Sheikh.

He added that the next step would be to “get the fund set up by the end of Cop27”.

Louise Boyle and Stuti Mishra report.

Cop27 puts climate compensation on agenda for the first time

South Africa says it needs $84bn for clean energy transition

04:57 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

South Africa needs nearly $84bn over the next five years for its plans to cut carbon emissions and transition to cleaner energy while supporting the affected communities, president Cyril Ramaphosa said.

At last year’s climate conference in Glasgow, first-world nations committed $8.5bn to help South Africa cut its reliance on coal, which is used for the bulk of its electricity generation.

However, according to Mr Ramaphosa, South Africa needs far more than what was pledged at Cop26.

“The scale of funding that is required to achieve our country’s ambition is significantly higher, much higher than the funding that has been offered,” Mr Ramaphosa said last week.

“In going to COP27, that is the message we will be taking forward.”

Pakistan PM urges world leaders to deliver on climate finance commitment

04:30 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, who is the chair of the G77 group of developing nations, has arrived in Egypt to attend the Cop27 climate summit, where he is expected to urge the international community to deliver on its commitment to climate finance along with the loss and damage fund.

Compensation paid by the international community to countries hit by climate disasters is one of the key agenda items for the summit in Egypt.

“Extreme climatic events in Pakistan and the Horn of Africa this year have showcased globalisation of climate change. Turning a blind eye to its lethal effects will be criminal,” Mr Sharif said in a tweet.

World leaders warned climate breakdown close to ‘irreversible’

04:19 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

World leaders have been warned climate breakdown is close to being “irreversible”, as they gathered for the make-or-break Cop27 summit amid accusations of “backsliding on promises made”.

The UN secretary-general warned world leaders in Egypt – including Rishi Sunak, after his U-turn on attending – that “our planet is on course to reach tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible”.

Simon Stiell, the UN climate chief, demanded that the promise be kept, saying he is “looking out” at the 165 countries that still needed to move further and faster.

“I will not be a custodian of backsliding,” he said, adding: “We know what must be done by everybody everywhere, every single day, doing everything we possibly can. Colleagues, it’s time to get to work.”

Rob Merrick and Joe Middleton report.

World leaders warned climate breakdown close to being ‘irreversible’ at Cop27

Sunak to ask world leaders to live up to their climate promises

03:49 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

British prime minister Rishi Sunak today will tell world leaders at the Cop27 climate summit in Egypt to deliver on their promises to tackle global warming.

He is expected to call on governments to deliver on the promises made at last year’s climate summit in Glasgow, when host nation Britain helped to broker a wide-ranging climate pact – much of which is yet to be implemented.

“The world came together in Glasgow with one last chance to create a plan that would limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees. The question today is: can we summon the collective will to deliver on those promises?” he will say, according to extracts released by his office.

Egypt has 72 hours to save activist’s life, says Amnesty

03:36 , Alisha Rahaman Sarkar

The proceedings of Cop27 in Egypt could be stained by the death of one of the country’s leading rights activists from a hunger and water strike in prison if he is not released within the next few days, Amnesty International said on Sunday.

Agnes Callamard, the secretary general of the rights body, said that Egyptian authorities had no more than 72 hours to save the life of jailed dissident Alaa Abd El-Fatteh.

“If they do not want to end up with a death they should have and could have prevented, they must act now,” Ms Callamard said at a news briefing.

Ms Callamard said she will be attending the climate summit to push for action on human rights issues related to climate change and immediate action on the case of the British-Egyptian prisoner.

‘Our planet is sending a distress signal,’ says UN chief

03:00 , Joe Middleton

Africa has all the sun and wind it needs to be a clean energy pioneer – but it needs help

02:00 , Joe Middleton

Africa, the world’s youngest continent, is on the cusp of sweeping economic development. But that development must be powered by renewables, writes Mohamed Adow.

Opinion: Africa has all the sun and wind it needs to be a clean energy pioneer

World leaders warned climate breakdown close to ‘irreversible’ as they gathered for make-or-break Cop27

01:00 , Joe Middleton

World leaders have been warned climate breakdown is close to being “irreversible”, as they gathered for the make-or-break Cop27 summit amid accusations of “backsliding on promises made”.

The conference got under way against the gloomy backdrop of a new United Nations report finding the 1.5C limit for global heating is now “barely within reach” – after the past eight years were the eight hottest ever recorded.

The UN secretary-general warned world leaders in Egypt – including Rishi Sunak, after his U-turn on attending – that “our planet is on course to reach tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible”.

World leaders warned climate breakdown close to being ‘irreversible’ at Cop27

Cop27: From world leaders to celebrities - who is attending the climate summit?

00:01 , Joe Middleton

Boris Johnson to warn against climate change ‘defeatism’

Sunday 6 November 2022 23:01 , Joe Middleton

Boris Johnson will issue a rallying call to not to allow “defeatism” in the face of the worsening economic situation to undermine the fight against global warming.

The former prime minister, who is attending the Cop27 climate change summit in Egypt, will warn on Monday a “corrosive cynicism” is jeopardising efforts to wean the world away from fossil fuels.

In a rare public intervention since being ousted from No 10 earlier this year, he will insist it is still possible to achieve the goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5C - avoiding the worst effects of climate change.

“Because the spike in oil and gas prices - and the consequent global inflation, the hikes in the cost of fertiliser and food have had an impact here and everywhere, they have led some naysayers to a corrosive cynicism about net zero,” he will tell a Climate Forward event organised by The New York Times.

“We must end the defeatism that has crept in since last year, we must end Putin’s energy blackmail, we must keep up our campaign to end global dependence on hydrocarbons, and if we retain the spirit of creative and promethean optimism that we saw at Paris and Glasgow, then we can keep 1.5 alive.”

PA

Cop27: Rishi Sunak accused of ‘vacuum of leadership’ as climate summit gets underway

Sunday 6 November 2022 22:36 , Joe Middleton

Rishi Sunak has been accused of a “vacuum of leadership”, as he arrives at the make-or-break Cop27 summit to a warning that climate breakdown is now close to being “irreversible”.

The prime minister’s claim to be “at the forefront” of global efforts to avert disaster was ridiculed after his initial refusal to attend the crucial conference – and with “a yawning chasm” between government promises and action.

As he left for Egypt, for one night only, Mr Sunak argued it is still possible to “limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees”, the point above which runaway climate change will be unstoppable.

Rob Merrick reports.

Rishi Sunak facing demands for action on climate change now - not more ‘warm words’

I have seen the devastation in Kenya with my own eyes

Sunday 6 November 2022 21:58 , Joe Middleton

When I think of those two girls fetching water, the women and girls who are afraid of being raped, I cannot believe how drastically everything has changed, writes Abigael Kima.

Opinion: I have seen the devastation in Kenya with my own eyes

Pictured: Rishi Sunak arrives at Cop27

Sunday 6 November 2022 21:10 , Joe Middleton

Prime minister Rishi Sunak arriving in Sharm el-Sheikh, in Egypt (PA)
Prime minister Rishi Sunak arriving in Sharm el-Sheikh, in Egypt (PA)

At Cop26, I asked world leaders to open their hearts – now they must open their eyes

Sunday 6 November 2022 20:55 , Joe Middleton

For many years, the warnings about climate inaction have been crystal clear. But many leaders worldwide have yet to take the climate crisis seriously. The response should have been faster, and at the scale and speed we know is needed, writes Elizabeth Wathuti.

Instead, frontline communities like mine are already bearing the biggest burden despite having done the least to cause the problem. Simply put, they are paying the price of climate inaction. Climate justice means facing up to this and not abandoning frontline communities to their fate.

In a speech I delivered to world leaders at Cop26 in Glasgow, I asked them to open their hearts before entering the negotiations. I appealed to them to act in solidarity with communities at the front lines of the climate crisis.

Opinion: At Cop26, I asked world leaders to open their hearts – now we need more

‘Our planet is sending a distress signal,’ says UN chief

Sunday 6 November 2022 20:30 , Joe Middleton

Sister of Egyptian Briton on hunger strike urges Sunak to intervene ‘before it is too late’

Sunday 6 November 2022 20:00 , Joe Middleton

The sister of British-Egyptian prisoner Alaa Abd El-Fatteh has made a plea to Rishi Sunak to make an urgent intervention.

Sanaa Seif called for the government to take action “before it is too late.”

The prime minister sent a letter to Abd El-Fattah’s family but they are concerned No 10’s engagements with the Egyptian president will be too past due.

Sister of Briton on hunger strike urges Sunak to intervene ‘before it is too late’

Climate protesters on bikes stop private planes from taking off ahead of Cop27 summit

Sunday 6 November 2022 19:24 , Joe Middleton

Hundreds of environmental activists blocked private jets from leaving Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on Saturday in a demonstration on the eve of the Cop27 climate conference in Egypt.

Footage showed Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion activists cycling around the planes at the transport hub, before others sat down in front of private jets to prevent them leaving.

Hundreds of other climate activists occupied the airport’s main hall and carried signs that “more trains” and “restrict aviation”.

Climate protesters on bikes stop private planes from taking off ahead of Cop27 summit

100-year-old Panamanian community to move to mainland as sea level rises over island

Sunday 6 November 2022 18:57 , Joe Middleton

The 1,200 inhabitants of the island of Gardi Sugdub are relocating to mainland Panama in 2023 as their land is being overtaken by the rising Caribbean Sea, writes Oliver O’Connell.

Climate change is forcing the indigenous Guna people to become the first residents of Latin America to be moved because their home for 100 years faces being submerged as the world’s sea levels rise.

The Wall Street Journal reports that they will be moved to modern homes in the new community of La Barriada late next year. The move has been planned for a decade.

100-year-old Panamanian community to move to mainland as sea rises over island

British PM Sunak will raise issue of hunger striker Alaa Abd el-Fattah with Egypt’s leadership

Sunday 6 November 2022 18:24 , Joe Middleton

Prime minister Rishi Sunak has said he will raise the case of Egyptian-British hunger striker Alaa Abd el-Fattah with Egypt’s leadership during the Cop27 climate summit that opened on Sunday, the same day Abd el-Fattah said he would stop drinking water.

Abd al-Fattah rose to prominence with Egypt’s 2011 uprising but has been detained for most of the period since. Sentenced most recently in December 2021 to five years on charges of spreading false news, he has been on hunger strike for 219 days against his detention and prison conditions.

In a letter dated November 5 to Abd el-Fattah’s sister Sanaa Seif, and posted by his family on social media, Mr Sunak wrote that the case remained a priority for the British government and had been raised with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi several times.

“I will continue to stress to President Sisi the importance that we attach to the swift resolution of Alaa’s case and an end to his unacceptable treatment,” Sunak wrote.

“The UK’s attendance at COP27 is another opportunity to raise your brother’s case with the Egyptian leadership.”

Reuters

Cop27: From world leaders to celebrities - who is attending the climate summit?

Sunday 6 November 2022 17:58 , Joe Middleton

Voices | Greta is right – Cop27 lacks moral leadership. Like apartheid, the climate crisis cannot be tackled without it

Sunday 6 November 2022 17:00 , Thomas Kingsley

To see women, especially young women, at the forefront of climate activism is inspiring, writes Ndileka Mandela. Especially because the cause can otherwise feel overwhelming. Recently, Greta Thunberg held us all to account. There is, she insisted, insufficient “moral and political leadership on the climate crisis”. Could anyone argue she’s wrong?

At Cop27, there’s a lot of talk about climate finance. That’s well and good, but the real reason we aren’t making progress, the real reason we’re on the verge of catastrophe, is because we aren’t speaking to people in languages that resonate. Language that inspires us to make hard choices. Everything else is just information.

Read the full story below:

Greta is right – Cop27 lacks moral leadership | Ndileka Mandela

Climate compensation for hardest hit countries on Cop agenda for first time

Sunday 6 November 2022 16:20 , Sam Rkaina

Delegates have agreed to discuss whether rich nations should compensate poor countries most vulnerable to climate change for their suffering.

“This creates for the first time an institutionally stable space on the formal agenda of COP and the Paris Agreement to discuss the pressing issue of funding arrangements needed to deal with existing gaps, responding to loss and damage,” Cop27 president Sameh Shoukry told the summit opening on Sunday.

The item was adopted to the agenda in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Sunday, as world leaders arrived for the negotiations scheduled to run through Nov. 18.

Much of the tension at Cop27 is expected to relate to loss and damage - funds provided by wealthy nations to vulnerable lower-income countries that bear little responsibility for climate-warming emissions.

At Cop26 last year in Glasgow, high-income nations blocked a proposal for a loss and damage financing body, instead supporting a new three-year dialogue for funding discussions.

The loss and damage discussions now on the agenda at Cop27 will not involve liability or binding compensation, but they are intended to lead to a conclusive decision “no later than 2024,” Shoukry said.

“The inclusion of this agenda reflects a sense of solidarity for the victims of climate disasters,” he added.

Rishi Sunak promises family of Briton on water strike in Egypt jail he will raise case during Cop27

Sunday 6 November 2022 14:55 , Sam Rkaina

Rishi Sunak has pledged to fight for the release of a UK citizen who has started a water strike in jail in Egypt, saying it is “a priority for the British government” that he be freed.

Mr Sunak is travelling to the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh on Sunday to attend Cop27, in his first major international visit as premier.

There he said he will meet the Egyptian president and raise the case of Alaa Abdel-Fattah, a British-Egyptian writer and software developer who rights groups say is unlawfully detained for his activism.

Click here for the full story.

Alaa Abdel-Fattah (AFP via Getty Images)
Alaa Abdel-Fattah (AFP via Getty Images)

Cop27 conference centre welcomes first attendees

Sunday 6 November 2022 14:37 , Sam Rkaina

 (EPA)
(EPA)
 (AP)
(AP)
 (AFP via Getty Images)
(AFP via Getty Images)

Political leaders have “special responsibility” to tackle climate change

Sunday 6 November 2022 14:00 , Sam Rkaina

Political leaders from around the globe have a “special responsibility” to urgently drive the transformation needed to tackle climate change, Taoiseach Micheal Martin has said.

He made the comments as he prepares to attend the Cop27 UN climate talks in Egypt.

The climate change conference takes place in Sharm El-Sheikh this week.

Mr Martin will attend the event as well as Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications Eamon Ryan, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney and Minister of State for Overseas Development Aid and Diaspora Colm Brophy.

At the summit, the Taoiseach will participate in a number of high-level events and roundtables, including on food security and on the sustainability of vulnerable communities.

He will join Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for a working breakfast on The Global Shield Against Climate Risks, a new initiative sponsored by the G7 and the V20 group of vulnerable countries aimed at scaling up the finance needed to protect against climate risks in poor countries.

On Tuesday afternoon Mr Martin will deliver Ireland’s national statement, setting out Ireland’s climate ambition, and the Government’s commitment to supporting vulnerable countries who, despite having contributed least to climate change, are bearing the brunt of its impact.

Climate activists block private jets on bikes

Sunday 6 November 2022 13:30 , Sam Rkaina

Hundreds of climate activists were arrested in Amsterdam after blocking private jets from taking off - on bikes.

Protesters stormed the Schiphol airport on Saturday, and were seen cycling around the Tarmac as security guards tried to bring them down.

“We want fewer flights, more trains and a ban on unnecessary short-haul flights and private jets,” said Dewi Zloch of Netherlands Greenpeace.

Sister’s fears for British brother jailed in Egypt

Sunday 6 November 2022 13:15 , Sam Rkaina

The sister of detained writer Alaa Abd El-Fattah fears the Foreign Office is “setting up the Prime Minister to fail” on his Cop27 trip to Egypt because her brother may die there while on hunger strike during the conference.

Rishi Sunak told the family of the British-Egyptian activist in a letter that he will raise their plight with the Egyptian president – but would be updating the family after the climate summit is over, which they say could be too late.

Mr Abd El-Fattah has been imprisoned in Cairo since 2006 over his pro-democracy writing.

He has been on hunger strike in prison, eating only 100 daily calories for the past 200 days, and will stop drinking water as the summit begins to escalate his protest.

Mr Sunak wrote to his family on Saturday saying he was “totally committed” to resolving the case, which he described as “a priority for the British Government both as a human rights defender and as a British national”.

He described Cop27 as “another opportunity to raise your brother’s case with the Egyptian leadership” and said Middle East minister Lord Ahmad would update the family on negotiations after the summit – which finishes on November 18.

Mr Abd El-Fattah’s sister, Sanaa Seif, said she was worried her brother, who looked “very, very frail” with “sunken eyes” last time she saw him in August, would die before the end of Cop27.

She told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “It’s good that we have a commitment from the Prime Minister’s office, but what worried me is he said we would get confirmation after the conference.

“I feel like the Prime Minister needs to understand the urgency – after the conference it could be too late.

“I know it’s not the Prime Minister’s mistake, but the Foreign Office, the embassy, they have been working on this for a very long time, and I feel like they are setting up the Prime Minister to fail in this trip.”

Sanaa Seif (Independent TV)
Sanaa Seif (Independent TV)