SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — The Latest on COP27, the United Nations climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
More than two dozen climate activists protested to pressure industrialized nations to pay for the destruction caused by climate change in the most vulnerable nations.
The protest Monday came as the United Nations’ climate conference enters its second and final week in Egypt’s seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The protesters were seen dancing and chanting inside the conference’s Blue Zone, a U.N. territory.
Virginia Llorin, a protester from the Philippines, said activists will keep fighting for financing for the most vulnerable nations to be able to recover from the impacts of climate change and prepare themselves for future climate-related weather events.
“We can’t wait anymore,” she said.
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The Group of Seven leading economies launched a new insurance system Monday to provide swift financial aid when nations are hit by devastating effects of climate change.
The so-called Global Shield is backed by the V20 group of 58 climate-vulnerable nations and will initially receive more than 200 million euros (dollars) in funding, mostly from Germany. Initial recipients include Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Fiji, Ghana, Pakistan, the Philippines and Senegal.
Ghana’s Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta called it “a path-breaking effort” that would help protect communities when lives and livelihoods are lost.
But civil society groups were skeptical, warning that it should not be used as a way to distract from the much broader effort to get big polluters to pay for the loss and damage they’ve caused with their greenhouse gases.
“We need a solution at the scale of the losses, and that means going beyond subsidized insurance,” said Rachel Simon of the environmental group Climate Action Network Europe.
She said new funds should also be created within the oversight of the U.N. climate talks, not on the sidelines, to ensure proper international oversight.
Global climate talks in Egypt headed into their second half on Monday with plenty of uncertainty left over whether there’ll be a substantial deal to combat climate change.
Tens of thousands of delegates from nearly 200 countries, observers, experts, activists and journalists, returned to the conference zone in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after a one day break.
The U.N.’s top climate official appealed for constructive diplomacy to match the high-flying rhetoric heard during the opening days of the talks.