COP27 is a ‘very difficult’ climate summit, says Swiss minister

The 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, known as COP27, is taking place from November 6-18. Keystone / Sedat Suna

As the Friday deadline for the COP27 climate summit in Egypt looms, many contentious issues reportedly remain unresolved. Switzerland’s environment minister says there is still time to take effective climate measures.

“It is a very difficult climate conference,” Swiss Environment Minister Simonetta Sommaruga toldExternal link Swiss public television SRF on Wednesday.

“The big countries don’t want to take part; the others don’t want to pay anymore. And at the same time, the poorest countries are there. They are the ones that are most affected, the ones that are really suffering massively from this climate crisis with starvation and very dramatic situations.”

Negotiators at the international climate talks in the Egyptian resort town Sharm el-Sheikh are trying to move key countries’ lines in the sand on multiple issues, including compensation for climate disasters, phasing down all fossil fuel use and additional financial help for poorer nations.

The final COP27 document is required to be unanimous. But many issues still reportedly remain unsettled. Egypt’s COP27 president urged negotiators to speed up the pace on overcoming their differences, while poor nations criticised the draft for failing to address their need for funds to cope with damage already being wrought by climate-driven storms, droughts and floods.

“Time is not on our side, let us come together now and deliver by Friday,” COP27 President Sameh Shoukry said in a letter to delegates dated Wednesday and published on Thursday.

Sommaruga echoed this: “The task now is for the ministers to get involved, but at the same time to apply pressure.”

Climate delegates and government officials in Sharm el-Sheikh have been discussing the implementation of the Paris Agreement, to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees by 2030, and how to meet emission reduction targets.

Switzerland wants to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Under the terms of the Paris climate agreement, it has pledged to halve emissions by 2030. But the country narrowly missed its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 despite coronavirus lockdowns and an unusually warm winter.

“Switzerland has already done a lot. But the fact is that we too must move forward. The CO2 law, which is now being discussed in parliament, is exactly the approach that is needed so that we can massively reduce CO2 emissions in our country – namely by 50% by 2030,” said the Swiss minister.

In Egypt Switzerland has been putting special emphasis on getting participating countries to commit to concrete climate protection decisions. It has been pushing for a work programme on mitigation, as has been done for adaptation.

The Swiss delegation has also been working to increase global investments in climate protection. The aim is to formulate a new funding target for the period after 2025.