Countries weigh EU fund offer near end of EU talks

A European Union proposal has raised hopes for progress at the climate summit COP27 on Friday, its last scheduled day, as the European bloc said it would support one of the most controversial items on the agenda, funding for countries affected by weather-related disasters.

But with several other sticking points in this year’s UN climate talks, host country Egypt said a final deal was not yet expected before the weekend.

“I remain committed to closing this conference tomorrow in an orderly manner, with the adoption of a series of consensus decisions that will be comprehensive, ambitious and balanced”, said the president of the COP27Sameh Shoukry told reporters.

The two-week conference in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh is a test of resolve to tackle global warming at a time when weather-driven storms, floods, droughts and wildfires compete for governments’ attention with a war in Europe and high inflation.

The talks were given a boost after the European Union said late on Thursday it would support the demand by the G77 group of 134 developing countries to create a fund to help countries deal with “loss and damage”, the irreparable fallout caused by the climate changes.

But it was not clear on Friday whether all countries would accept the bloc’s offer of a fund to help only “the most vulnerable countries”, rather than all developing countries, as they had requested.

The issue of damages dominated this year’s summit, and talks made little headway through Thursday, with the United States and European Union resisting a new fund over fears it could open the door to mounting debts.

EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans stipulated that the bloc will only support the fund if countries agree to other measures to slow climate change, such as gradually reducing the use of all fossil fuels along with uninterrupted power generation. coal-fired, while reporting on progress to ensure this is being done.

Delegates eagerly awaited news of how the United States and China, the world’s two largest economies and two biggest polluters, will respond to the offer from the European bloc, the third largest economy and emitter of greenhouse gases.

On Friday morning, the UN climate agency published a first official draft of the summit’s final agreement. The goal is a global agreement that advances the fight against climate change on several fronts, from more funding to guarantees that countries will act more quickly to reduce emissions that warm the planet.