Today, Monday, at the opening of the Conference of the Parties on Climate (COP27) in the resort of Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that humanity faces the choice of working together or "collective suicide."
Guterres stressed - during this summit, which is attended by leaders and leaders of about 120 countries - that "humanity is faced with the choice of cooperation or perishment; either it is a pledge of climate solidarity or a pledge of "collective suicide."
He called for an agreement between the world's richest and poorest countries to speed up the transition from fossil fuels, and to speed up the provision of funding to ensure that poor countries are helped to reduce emissions and deal with the inevitable effects of global warming.
He also asked the participating countries to agree to phase out the use of coal, one of the most carbon-releasing fuels, until it is completely phased out by 2040 globally, with the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development achieving this goal by 2030.
US funding
For its part, the administration of US President Joe Biden has pledged to double funding for the United Nations Green Climate Fund to $11 billion annually by 2024.
This came according to what Samuel Warburg, the regional spokesman for the US State Department, told the Egyptian News Agency, days before the arrival of the US President on November 11, to participate in the climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, eastern Egypt.
Warberg said that the US administration "has an interest in the climate change file because of its great repercussions not only on the American interior, but on the whole world... President Biden has pledged to double the funding of the Climate Fund 4 times from the maximum reached by Barack Obama's administration, and provide 11 billion dollars. of funding annually by 2024.
He explained that this funding will be provided to "support countries' efforts to decarbonize their economies, promote climate-friendly land use practices, and enhance adaptation and resilience," noting that "the president's budget request for the fiscal year 2023 will effectively achieve this goal a year ahead of schedule."
On November 15, 2014, the administration of former President Barack Obama pledged to provide $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund, but its contribution was limited to only $1 billion before the end of his presidency.
Donations
On the other hand, the Gates Foundation (owned by Bill and Melinda Gates) has donated $1.4 billion to help small farmers in Africa and Asia cope with climate change.
The Foundation said - during the conference - that this amount will be distributed over 4 years to encourage innovations that allow these farmers to better resist drought, heat and severe floods exacerbated by climate change.
A statement from French President Emmanuel Macron's office also said the Bezos Earth Fund, set up by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, also pledged $1 billion by 2030 to help protect forests and biodiversity.
Macron's office issued the statement on Monday, coinciding with the French leader holding his first series of talks on the sidelines of the summit.
The Bezos Earth Fund has so far pledged to provide 30% of its $10 billion in capital to conserve nature and help it recover.
The fund is seeking to form an alliance with African and European countries during this year's summit to increase forest restoration efforts.
"Logos and Words"
In a speech during the opening session of the conference, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi stressed that what the world needs to overcome the climate crisis goes beyond slogans and words, and that peoples expect real and tangible steps from world leaders to reduce emissions.
Jordan's King Abdullah II also said that the "fatal" risks of climate change are still steadily increasing, and all countries are paying the price, especially the developing countries.
He added during his speech at the conference that "the United Nations Climate Change Conference has an urgent task, which is to launch a set of measures to deal with climate change on a new level, to be able to bring about tangible change and achieve results with great speed and effectiveness."
He announced his country's submission of an initiative called "Climate-Refugees Nexus", saying that "the United Nations recognizes that refugees around the world and host countries are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. To address this crisis, Jordan presents an initiative called Climate-Refugees Nexus, with the aim of giving Priority support for host countries that bear the burden of climate change.
It is noteworthy that the Sheikh's Climate Summit kicked off on Sunday and will continue until November 18, and comes at a time when world leaders are under great pressure to reinforce their climate pledges and ensure financial support for developing countries that are among the biggest victims of climate change.