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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Helena Horton and Sandra Laville

Cop27 president bemoans slow negotiations saying some countries failing to address urgency of climate crisis – as it happened

Cop27
Climate activists hold a demonstration in front outside the UN climate summit.
Climate activists hold a demonstration in front outside the UN climate summit. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

What happened today at Cop27

I’m signing off the blog now, after a day marked by stalling negotiations.

It looks very much like the conference may overrun, as the draft text was perhaps the most bloated and confused we have ever seen at a Cop and even Shoukry admitted that things were not in a great place.

  • The president of Cop27, Egypt’s foreign minister Sameh Shoukry, said he was very worried about the slow progress of the negotiations and issued a stern message to country delegates. “While some of the discussions [have been] constructive and positive, others did not reflect the need to move collectively to address the gravity and urgency of the climate crisis,” he declared.

  • The UN secretary general, António Guterres, was of a similar opinion. Fresh from the G20 summit in Bali, he warned that time was running out, both for the talks in Sharm el-Sheikh and for the planet. “The climate clock is ticking, and trust keeps eroding,” he said. His verdict on Thursday evening was grim: “There is clearly a breakdown in trust north and south, and between developed and emerging economies.” But he urged countries to keep trying for common ground. “This is no time for finger-pointing. The blame game is a recipe for mutually assured destruction.”

  • Brazil’s incoming president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, met Indigenous leaders and said what many have been thinking at Cop – that those most impacted by the climate emergency are not represented at these negotiations. He said that he was unable to represent all views in the room of Indigenous leaders. He talked about G20 meetings and his feeling that nothing was said about the issues of civil society during them. “Poor people don’t exist on the agenda, do not exist on their agenda … Indigenous communities, black communities … trade unions,” he said.

  • Ellie Goulding wrote a dispatch for us – not every day you get a pop star on the Cop27 blog! She demanded that fossil fuel lobbyists be banned from Cops, accusing them of “hijacking” proceedings.

  • Developing countries demanded that an agreement is reached in Egypt to set up a funding mechanism to pay them for loss and damage. Sherry Rehman, Pakistan’s climate change minister, representing the G77, said negotiations were at a “pivotal moment”. Rehman said common ground must be found and a political decision taken this week. “We are saying give us a political message that we are all willing to take this forward as a community of nations,” she said. But she said a walkout by countries most vulnerable to climate change impacts was premature. “We’re now in the weeds of negotiations. I don’t walk out of negotiations. I try to work around them.”

  • The big news was that the Cop cover text draft was published, though it is likely to change significantly in the coming days. Many were disappointed with the bulky and confusing document, which was labelled by some as “more of a shopping list than a draft text”. The UK’s Alok Sharma, the EU’s Frans Timmermans and Canada’s Steven Guilbeault went to see the Cop27 president, Sameh Shoukry, saying there were too many gaps in it.

Thank you so much for following along. We will be covering Cop right to the bitter end – whenever that will be! Stay tuned and keep checking the Guardian for the latest climate stories and the ins and outs of negotiations. Have a lovely evening.

Updated

The British-Egyptian hunger striker Alaa Abd el-Fattah is in a bad way, according to his family, who have just released a statement on Twitter.

They say he is “exhausted, weak, vulnerable and very very thin”.

They claim he has faced intimidating treatment in prison. Read more below.

Updated

I just bumped into Germany’s special climate envoy, Jennifer Morgan, who is trying to broker a compromise on the key issue of loss and damage.

“We are in the thick of it,” she said, hurrying away with her team. She would not give an update on anything else.

Updated

Cop president Shoukry bemoans slow negotiations

The president of Cop27, Egypt’s foreign minister Sameh Shoukry, is now very worried about the slow progress of the negotiations and has issued a stern message to country delegates. They may well think privately that the presidency shares the blame.

Shoukry said: “World leaders descended on this venue [last week] and expressed unequivocal support to the global efforts to tackle climate change – this political will needs to find its way fully to the negotiating rooms.”

“While some of the discussions [have been] constructive and positive, others did not reflect the need to move collectively to address the gravity and urgency of the climate crisis. The mitigation work programme [to speed up emissions cuts] is yet to reach the desired outcome. Adaptation is still held back by procedural matters. Ambitious outcomes on finance have not yet materialised. And on loss and damage, parties are shying away from taking the difficult political decisions.”

“I reiterate what was highlighted by President al-Sisi at the opening ceremony: the world has become a stage for a continuously running show of human misery and pain. This needs to end now, not tomorrow.”

“I urge all [countries] to go the extra mile, take the necessary steps to reach the much-needed conclusions and agreements. The world is waiting for us to demonstrate the seriousness by which we tackle this matter, and as a community of nations we must live up to their expectations.”

Earlier today, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, told delegates at Cop27: “This is no time for finger-pointing. The blame game is a recipe for mutually assured destruction.”

Updated

As we wait for more results from negotiations, here’s some depressing reading from the Met Office.

We’ve heard many leaders at Cop27 talking about keeping 1.5C alive, and that was the theme of Glasgow, too.

But top meteorologists in England say that this climate goal is very unlikely to happen until 2100 – that is, we will exceed 1.5C, then the world may cool in years to come.

This would obviously have devastating consequences for millions.

The study published in the journal Weather shows pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions agreed last year at the Glasgow climate conference (Cop26) are not likely to be sufficient to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C or below compared with pre-industrial levels.

Dr Andy Wiltshire is the Met Office’s head of Earth system and mitigation science and lead author of the analysis. He said: “Implementing all the pledges from Glasgow would bring annual global emissions of carbon dioxide or their equivalents down to between 45 and 49 gigatonnes by 2030. But at this level there are no future pathways likely to avoid going above 1.5C. To give the 1.5C threshold at least a 50% chance of being met without continued exceedance, we need to see annual emissions down to around 30 gigatonnes by 2030.”

Updated

An update on Alaa Abd el-Fattah from AFP. His health is deteriorating, according to family members.

The jailed British-Egyptian activist’s health had “deteriorated severely”, his sister said on Thursday after the first family visit since he ended a seven-month-long hunger strike.

In a message on Twitter, Mona Seif said news from the visit was “unsettling”.

“Alaa deteriorated severely in the past two weeks, but at least they got to see him, and he needed to see the family so much,” she wrote.

His other sister, Sanaa Seif, said her brother appeared “frail, vulnerable and emotional” during the visit, which was conducted “behind a glass shield with a phone speaker with little space to understand or communicate”.

After seven months consuming what his family said was “100 calories a day”, Abd el-Fattah escalated his strike to all food, and then water on 6 November to coincide with the start of the Cop27 climate summit in Egypt.

In a letter handed to his family on Tuesday, but dated Monday, he said he had ended the strike.

Thursday was the first time the activist’s mother, Laila Soueif, was allowed to visit him in nearly a month, after prison authorities repeatedly denied her access last week.

The family has not disclosed more information about the visit or Abd el-Fattah’s status, but “will share the full details later,” Seif added.

The pro-democracy blogger is serving a five-year sentence for “spreading false news” by sharing another user’s Facebook post about police brutality.

Updated

Here is why we are expecting Cop to drag on a bit. Simon Evans from Carbon Brief is excellent at making colour-coded charts for our fatigued eyes to look at, and he’s made one today of how negotiations are going.

As you can see, not much has been agreed yet.

So many people are wondering how long until the agreement is signed off and everyone can go home. One negotiator from a leading country at Cop27 seems pessimistic about the time frame – not least because they contracted food poisoning from the shoddy offering at Cop.

“I’ve never seen us so united on an issue as loss and damage,” said the negotiator, who is from a G77 country. “There is strong pushback from the US in particular. They have said they won’t accept a decision that establishes a fund on loss and damage. That’s where the impasse is. The G77 is saying that’s unacceptable. We are saying we need a decision now and a process to negotiate the terms of reference. We want a decision on establishing the fund right now and there’s a negative reaction from developed countries.”

On Egypt’s organisation, they said: “I’m really worried. It’s likely they will drag on until Saturday. I really don’t know if we will get a proper final text. It will really depend how far countries are willing to take things. Some might say unless there’s no agreement on loss and damage, there’s no outcome.

“When there’s no agreement, the presidency usually gets blamed for that, so I’m sure the Egyptians will want to avoid that. Just like Copenhagen and the Danish at Cop15. There are a lot of issues that are still open.

“The cover decision, that is a total mess. They’re still discussing it and the meeting started nearly six hours ago. The document doesn’t even contain proper text. It’s just a list of topics. It was supposed to be a two-hour meeting.

“On the basis of this round of talks today, I hope the presidency will prepare an actual draft decision. It will take us a long time to agree on a text, so it’s a cause for concern.

“We won’t leave before midnight, I think. We are all pretty tired. I have had food poisoning. There’s no decent food here. I never drink Coca-Cola, but I’ve been drinking loads here,” the negotiator said.

Updated

Our tireless correspondent Fiona Harvey, who has been reporting non-stop from Egypt for weeks, has encountered some people with even more vim and vigour than her. To be fair, she’s had to spend hours today going through that dreaded and giant draft text so the rest of us can try to understand it.

Updated

I am now using the live blog to shamelessly promote my own work. Captive audience and all that.

So, earlier this autumn, I broke the story that Liz Truss, our former prime minister wanted to ban solar power from most of England’s farmland.

It was thought – and hoped – that like most of her ill-advised schemes, this would also be dropped.

However, fresh from burnishing her green credentials at Cop27, the environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey signalled this morning that the ban was still on the table.

I spent a long time trying to get an answer out of Defra about it, and they refused to deny this was the case and said they were looking at how to balance food production and energy security, and pointed to her comments that brownfield land is preferable. Other countries, who are investing heavily in renewables, must be very confused by our government’s position.

Read more below.

Updated

Antonio Guterres, the UN secretary-general, has just flown in from Bali, after the G20 meeting, clearly frustrated by the lack of progress at Cop27.

He warned that time was running out, both for the talks in Sharm El-Sheikh and for the planet. “The climate clock is ticking, and trust keeps eroding,” he said.

On the eve of Cop27, Guterres told the Guardian in an exclusive interview that he wanted to see “a historic pact” forged at Cop27, between the developed and the developing world, over issues such as loss and damage and the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions faster. Failure to produce such a pact would mean “we are doomed”, he told the Guardian starkly.

His verdict on Thursday evening was grim: “There is clearly a breakdown in trust north and south, and between developed and emerging economies.” But he urged countries to keep trying for common ground. “This is no time for fingerpointing. The blame game is a recipe for mutually assured destruction.”

He identified three areas where compromise was needed: on loss and damage; on addressing the “huge” gap between countries pledges on greenhouse gas emissions and the cuts needed to stay within 1.5C of pre-industrial temperatures; and for developed countries to provide the $100bn in climate finance that developing countries had been promised they would receive from 2020, and for the proportion of the $100bn going to adaptation projects to be doubled.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Photograph: Willy Kurniawan/Reuters

“The time for talking on loss and damage is over,” he declared. “We need action… We cannot continue to deny climate justice to those who have contributed least to the climate crisis, and are getting hurt the most.”

There is currently no agreement between developed and developing countries on what form any financial settlement on loss and damage should take.

On the 1.5C goal, he warned: “The 1.5C target is not simply about keeping a goal alive – it’s about keeping people alive… I see the will to keep to the 1.5C goal, but we must ensure that commitment is evident in the Cop27 outcome.”

He called for an expansion in just transition partnerships, of the kind announced last year in Glasgow for South Africa, and this week for Indonesia, to help workers move from jobs in coal to jobs in renewable energy.

He also called for reform of the World Bank and its fellow multilateral development banks, and for the expansion of renewable energy, which he called “the exit ramp from the highway to climate hell”.

He said: “We know what we need to do, and we have the tools and resources to get it done.”

People inside the negotiations told the Guardian that the Egyptian hosts had described the text sent out this morning as a “compilation” rather than a draft text. Consultations then took place but they were mainly a repeat of previous discussions, the Guardian understands. It is also unclear how discussions on loss and damage will be resolved and included in any draft text. In the current “compilation” they are mostly blank, with “placeholder” text showing that almost nothing on the subject has yet been agreed.

Back in the UK, our environment editor Damian Carrington has been analysing the green measures in chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement.

Spoiler alert: they are not impressive. How wonderful for the country’s green reputation during Cop. Read more below.

Lula is about to speak. He is being given necklaces and gives by community representatives. Lula then greets everyone from around the world and says that he is unable to represent all views here. He talks about G20 meetings and his feeling that nothing was said about the issues of civil society in these meetings.

“Poor people don’t exist on the agenda do not exist on their agenda… indigenous communities, black communities… trade unions,” he says.

This is a struggle of at least 40 years, says Lula.

“I have the will to represent indigenous communities. My country is huge… when Brazil was discovered, historians says it has 5 million. Today, it has only 870 thousand because of the struggles that they went through,” he says.

We need to change our understanding of the world, Lula says. The bottom line is that indigenous people are not treated as if they were human beings, just figures, he says. This is the point of view we must change.

We have the moral obligation to make reparations to indigenous communities, says Lula. He says people won’t be treated as second class citizens under his presidency. That’s why he is creating a cabinet position for First Nations people. Humanity is learning that taking care of ecosystems and biodiversity is not optional.

“We don’t have two planet Earths,” he says. Lula says he is concerned about people making rockets to go to space. He says that money should be invested in conservation and improving people’s lives. He says indigenous people should be seen as a solution, not a problem.

President-elect of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and members of an indigenous group
President-elect of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and members of an indigenous group Photograph: Mohammed Salem/Reuters

Updated

Experts underwhelmed by Cop which 'signalled the beginning of the end of 1.5 degrees'

As Cop27 draws to an official close – though who knows how long it’ll overrun – experts have been giving their reviews of the summit.

Alycia Leonard, postdoctoral research assistant, energy and power group at the University of Oxford, was on the ground at the conference. For her, it’s been a mixed b ag.

There is a sense on the ground that this COP could be the beginning of the end of 1.5 degrees....But this COP has also normalised the once radical notion of North-to-South loss and damage reparations. People are beginning to realise the dire warnings put forward by small island states for years will soon come home.

The most inspiring voices to me this COP were those of indigenous women, which rang loud and true with the wisdom we need to confront this crisis….It doesn’t have to be a zero sum game. We can and must all win together.

Robert Pritchard, Senior Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, was underwhelmed:

Greta Thunberg decided to promote her book, ‘The Climate Book’—available in both online and ‘dead tree’ versions—rather than attend the COP27 event in Sharm el-Sheik, and, unfortunately, that might have been the right decision.

Last year’s Cop26 agreement pact to work towards a 1.5C rise in global temperature appears to be failing, as governments struggle to cope with more immediate concerns, despite Wednesday’s G20 pledge. The trouble is that governments tend to think in four- or five-year increments, rather than the longer term.

Lula meets Indigenous leaders

It is day three of Lula’s visit to Cop27 and I am waiting for the Brazilian president-elect to speak with Indigenous leaders at a side event near the main plenary hall. The room is bursting with colour from the traditional dress.

Lula has said he will put Indigenous rights at the heart of his presidency, given that it is a scientific fact that they are the best guardians of nature in their territories around the world.

It is peaceful inside the room, contrasting with the carnival atmosphere that has followed Lula around wherever he has been in Egypt. Big crowds sung his name yesterday as he told the summit that “Brazil is back”.

The event begins with testimonies from Indigenous leaders from around the world and a very warm welcome for the president-elect. Lula is thanked for his record on speaking up for Indigenous communities and the hosts explain the key role they have played at protecting climate critical ecosystems, from the Arctic to the Pacific Ocean.

Representatives from seven regions will address Lula for a minute each shortly.

First up is the representative from Africa. He congratulates Lula on his election and says he home he will provide global leadership on vulnerable Indigenous communities. He pays tribute to his background as a trade unionist. He asks for support with biodiversity protection, saying indigenous rights protectors are being an “endangered species”.

The African Indigenous representative says communities need more funding and resources, especially given their impact counteracting global heating. “We didn’t cause climate change but we suffer the impacts,” he concludes.

Next is Asia. The representative says she is from Borneo and congratulates him on his election, praising him for his commitment to stop deforestation. She asks Lula to speak to world leaders in Asia about protecting tropical forests.

“Together with our brothers and sisters, we count on you to advance real solutions to climate change,” she says.

The representative for the Pacific is up. She is from the Mariana islands from the same stretch as Guam. She says the area makes up one third of the Earth’s surface and her people have an intimate relationship with the ocean. She asks Lula to support the demilitarisation of the Pacific and end fossil fuel exploration.

Now it’s Russia and eastern Europe. The Indigenous representative praises his respect for traditional knowledge and communities in the Amazon. He highlights to role of the Siberian forest, the Taiga, where he says there are big challenges. He says they need Lula’s solidarity for the consequences of climate change there.

“We believe we are the race and reputation of our forest, standing and speaking up for our trees, our rivers and lakes,” he concludes.

Three regions to go. The Arctic representative is speaking now. The growing impacts of climate change are evident in his ancestral lands, he says, and with it the connection with the land.

“It is imperative that action is taken,” he says. “Preservation of the Arctic is related to the protection of the Brazilian rainforests.”

He concludes but congratulating him on his election victory again.

North America’s turn now. The chief acknowledges the Egyptian people for holding the Cop here and greets Lula and his wife. He says climate change affects all Indigenous regions. He says Indigenous peoples have been left out of Cop27 discussions despite being from the “ground zero” of climate change. “And yet, we have not received the resources we need,” he says. He says his brothers and sisters are dealing with storms and hurricanes as a consequence of global heating.

“Perhaps you as a leader, you can demonstrate to other leaders to take a leadership role on climate change,” he says. He says he hopes he will be at Cop15 in Montreal for the biodiversity cop.

Finally, the representative from Latin America speaks. Brother Lula, he starts. “The world has been waiting for Lula and Lula is here,” he says to applause. Now the world wants to follow your path, he says. “Viva Lula and out Bolsonaro,” he concludes.

Updated

Ellie Goulding writes diary of her time at Cop27

Avid blog readers may remember that I promised you a dispatch from an A-Lister the other day, then didn’t deliver it. Well, that is because pop stars aren’t as good, it turns out, as journalists at meeting deadlines.

Anyway, I am thrilled that Ellie Goulding, international superstar and environment campaigner, has agreed to write a little Cop diary for the Guardian liveblog. Here it is below – thank you Ellie!

On arrival

Immediately I could sense a different energy to the Glasgow Cop – which was my first experience last year. (By the way I’ve discovered that climate people always compare Cops – it’s a “thing”. That makes sense because they’re so huge and confusing, it’s a way of trying to work out whether you’re at a good Cop or a bad Cop). Glasgow was very focused, but really dry. Egypt has a real vibe. I think this is driven by the amount of young people from all over the world who were running up to me, singing my songs, taking selfies (there was a lot of this!) and urging me to get to the Children and Youth Pavilion, as a matter of urgency.

Meeting Ed Miliband

Shuttling between events (which means running and then stopping to say “Hi” to anyone you recognise like Ed Miliband who said things were going slowly in the official negotiations. I heard this a lot) means you get a lot of time in the walkways. I saw an indigenous community holding what looked like a ritual prayer for Mother Earth on one walkway. On one hand it gives the Cop so much energy and presence, but then on the other you’re worried that certain groups don’t have enough official space and are reduced to the corridor.

WWF Brasil and Angela Mendes

After a few media interviews, including one where the VP of Mexico was interacting with a guy in a dinosaur costume in the background (there is an element of circus here too, which I quite like), I head to the Panda Pavilion and WWF Brazil. I meet Angela Mendes, the daughter of the great indigenous community leader, Chico Mendes, who was murdered by a rancher in the 1990s. The presence of Chico looms burns brightly for all activists fighting for the Amazon. Angela is wonderful and in a small, slightly sterile room – the meeting rooms aren’t lovely at Cop – she manages to bring the forest alive in her descriptions. She wants my help with handing in a “complaint” to the UN alongside a WWF report on the state of the Brazilian Amazon. During the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, deforestation has escalated to such an extent that the Amazon has been pushed to the brink. The “complaint” is a technical manoeuvre that allows the UN to formalise a request to Brazil that they prioritise ending deforestation again.

The Youth Pavilion

Afterwards I made good on my promise to attend the Children and Youth Pavilion, the first to be held in the Blue Zone at Cop. Rather than being flooded with oil executives, it was flooded with young global leaders and would be leaders from all different backgrounds. It was such a beautiful experience. Everyone was talking really fast, telling me what they do and asking me about my work. It was difficult to leave, not only because by this point I was surrounded by a large crowd of amazing young people – a sort of slow-moving 100 person selfie.

Meeting environment ministers from across the world

There’s a lot of criticism of Cops as a talking shop or some sort of nice holiday. But I promise you officials and other delegates are in back-to-back meetings, there’s little sleep and negotiations start to show on faces certainly by day 10. I attend a dinner with environment ministers and their teams from all over the world, convened by the UK’s Zac Goldsmith. You could tell they were tired but ploughing on. What amazes me about this group is that they never stop trying to get a better deal for nature. Alok Sharma was there with his team, and it reminded me that the fact that we now have a biodiversity day is one of the legacies of the Glasgow Cop, when the UK pushed to integrate nature into the climate talks. You can’t have climate stability without addressing the destruction of nature. Nature is our most important ally.

Biodiversity Day

For someone like me, I’m here to spotlight pieces of legislation, moments of action and sometimes give that final push. My big “moment” at Cop27’s designated Biodiversity Day is to represent the UN Environment Programme at a Hope for Corals event. This is the culmination of years of work for some people so it’s always an absolute honour but quite a lot of pressure. Inger Andersen, who is head of UNEP, is a hero of mine and very reassuring. She gave a wonderful opening speech where she told everyone what was at stake. What I love about her is that she isn’t afraid to use emotion to highlight the science. This is what I try to do too. You walk past so many “dry” talks and events at Cop. I’m sure they are important but they don’t send out stories to the wider world. I think that’s our job.As I speak I catch sight of the faces of some of the young climate and nature leaders I met at the youth pavilion the day before. I’m so happy they’ve come to support us on this issue.

Ellie says: ban fossil fuel lobbyists

For me, it’s this sort of support in Cop that makes a huge difference. But that won’t be possible if Cops continue to allow in hundreds of lobbyist from fossil fuel industries. It will kill the heart of Cop and it really shakes the foundation. I mention that in my speech and the fact the Global Witness counted 600plus applications from the oil and gas industries, more than any African delegation and this is the African Cop. Why do we continue to allow this process to be hijacked?

Coming home

How do I feel afterwards? I came back feeling like I had achieved something, but there’s always this uncertainty as to whether you’ve done anything at all. I always battle with this insecurity that I haven’t done enough. It’s intensified because there aren’t that many people from my world doing this stuff. But I do come away with a bit of hope and now I have to have trust that our global leaders have the courage to act at the scale needed.

Updated

Bad news for fatigued journalists, diplomats and negotiators in Sharm el-Sheikh – it doesn’t seem these talks will wind up anytime soon.

The Times’ environment editor Adam Vaughan (who was once of this parish) has been sitting in on a talk with Frans Timmermans, the executive vice-president for the European Green Deal. He’s pointed me towards his tweet, where he reported Timmermans said there was a “long and difficult journey” to the end of the conference and he was not sure when the talks would end.

Those who have ploughed through the draft text, which is not really in great shape, may not be surprised by these pronouncements.

Updated

“Coral reefs are not just a pretty face,” says Simon Donner, a climate scientist taking a break from the Cop27 summit to go snorkelling with us in Egypt – and to examine their current state.

More than half a billion people around the world rely or benefit from coral reefs – and even if the 1.5C limit is kept, more than 90% of reefs will be destroyed by severe aquatic heatwaves.

Reefs provide “really incredibly important services to people all across the tropics and subtropics, including food, income, but also shoreline protection”, Donner said, adding that without the structure of the coral reef off the coast of many islands, waves and the effects of rising sea levels would be much greater.

But here in Sharm el-Sheikh, we spotted signs of disease and possible heat-related damage to corals that closely hug the shoreline.

Read my colleague Oliver Milman’s full piece.

Updated

Hello! Helena Horton here taking over from Sandra, and I will be guiding you through Cop27 this afternoon.

First up, Carbon Brief are once again giving essential analysis. Here’s tits Leo Hickman showing how woolly the language used in the draft document is:

Updated

Fiona Harvey has been through the monster draft document. Here is her annotation of the key points.

Before I hand over to Helena Horton, here is a summary of the events so far today:

  • The first draft of what could be the overarching agreement from the Cop27 climate summit has been published.

  • It fails to include a call to phase down all fossil fuels, as required by the EU and India.

  • There are no details on the setting up of a loss and damage fund.

  • Anger and disappointment grows over the many gaps in the document.

  • UK’s Alok Sharma joins EU and Canadian leaders in a face to face with the Egyptian presidency demanding a tougher recommitment to limit the temperature increase to 1.5C as tough negotiations begin over the draft.

Updated

Developing countries demand an agreement on loss and damage fund

Developing countries are demanding an agreement is reached in Egypt to set up a funding mechanism to pay them for loss and damage.

Sherry Rehman, Pakistan’s climate change minister and representing the G77, said negotiations were at a “pivotal moment”. Rehman said common ground must be found and a political decision taken this week.

“We are saying give us a political message that we are all willing to take this forward as a community of nations,” she said.

But she said a walkout by countries most vulnerable to climate change impacts was premature.

“We’re now in the weeds of negotiations. I don’t walk out of negotiations. I try to work around them.”

Referring to the floods that submerged a third of Pakistan’s habitable land this year, affecting 33 million people, Rehman said: “What went on in Pakistan will not stay in Pakistan. That dystopia that came to our doorstep will come to everyone.

“We are very clear that we see this as a climate justice issue and if it continues to be kicked down the road we will see it as a justice denied issue ... Vulnerability should not become a death sentence, and that’s what a lot of people are facing.”

Molwyn Joseph speaks to reporters.
Molwyn Joseph speaks to reporters. Photograph: Nariman El-Mofty/AP

Molwyn Joseph, the minister of environment for Antigua and Barbuda and chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, said political will to move forward on loss and damage “must be demonstrated by tangible evidence”.

He wants a decision to establish a funding mechanism as a first step in Sharm el-Sheikh, with decisions on how it would be funded to come later.

“I do not understand the reluctance, frankly. We have the opportunity at this Cop to plant the first seed of restoration for countries that are devastated, and that is to establish the fund. And then we can identify the financial flows into the fund.”

Asked if any particular countries were frustrating the process, he declined to name names. “I think there is a kind of inertia that has existed for too long.”

Updated

Alok Sharma pushes Egyptian presidency to fill in gaps in climate draft

The UK’s Alok Sharma, the EU’s Frans Timmermans and Canada’s Steven Guilbeault have been to see Cop27 president, Sameh Shoukry, saying there are too many gaps in the climate draft. They are urging a stronger recommitment to limiting the temperature increase to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

Updated

The family of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, the British-Egyptian political prisoner whose case has put the international spotlight on Egypt’s human rights record throughout Cop27, are waiting to visit him in Wadi al Natrun prison.

His aunt Ahdaf Soueif tweeted a picture of the activist’s mother, Laila Soueif, reading as they passed through the layers of security needed to enter for family visits, with the caption “waiting”. Alongside them is Sanaa Seif, who attended Cop27 as an observer to draw attention to her brother’s case.

Abd el-Fattah told his family in a letter earlier this week that he would end the hunger strike he began in April, intended to protest against his detention conditions and to demand a visit from British consular officials.

He had subsisted for more than six months on 100 calories a day, his health visibly deteriorating. Shortly before Cop he said he would be escalating his hunger strike to include ceasing to drink water on the day the climate summit began.

But the Egyptian authorities said Abd el-Fattah was subject to a “medical intervention” last week without specifying further. His family hope to learn more on the visit today about his condition.

A protester holds a poster of activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah at a rally in London.
A protester holds a poster of activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah at a rally in London. Photograph: May James/Reuters

Speaking to BBC Radio 4 this morning before she left for Wadi al Natrun prison, his mother said: “I hope I will find him reasonably well and reasonably optimistic. I don’t know how he was persuaded to break his hunger strike, I still have to find that out, see what he’s been told, what he’s been promised, where it’s logical or whether it feels like I trap I have no idea. I have to wait and see.”

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'World deserves better' than current draft text of climate agreement, senior Africa policy adviser says

The world deserves better, says Fredrick Njehu, senior Africa policy adviser at Tearfund.

“This was billed as an implementation COP - an opportunity to take real action, especially on the key issues of climate finance and phasing out fossil fuels.

“But today’s draft text signals betrayal of the most vulnerable countries who are counting the cost of inaction and facing ever bigger bills for loss and damage.

“If this text is agreed in its current form it will fail to bring justice for those suffering the worst effects of the climate crisis.”

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Vanessa Nakate has been one of the most outspoken activists at the summit. Last week she appeared with fellow youth climate activists: from left, Eric Njuguna, of Kenya, Nicole Becker, of Argentina, Nakate, of Uganda, Sophia Kianni, an Iranian-American environmentalist, and Mitzi Jonelle Tan, of the Philippines.
Vanessa Nakate has been one of the most outspoken activists at the summit. Last week she appeared with fellow youth climate activists: from left, Eric Njuguna, of Kenya, Nicole Becker, of Argentina, Nakate, of Uganda, Sophia Kianni, an Iranian-American environmentalist, and Mitzi Jonelle Tan, of the Philippines. Photograph: Nariman El-Mofty/AP

Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate challenged world leaders in Egypt on their three decades of broken promises.

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Adam Morton, the Guardian’s correspondent in Sharm el-Sheikh, analyses how the draft fails to include the call from India, EU and the US, for the phasing down of all fossil fuels - and not just coal – and provides a sliver of hope it might later be included.

“It appears to have hit a snag, given its absence from the draft text released this morning,” he says.

“But it remains a live campaign that has grown rapidly this week. The change was proposed by India and has received some heavyweight support, including from the UK, EU, Tuvalu and US climate envoy John Kerry.

“If accepted, it would be the first official acknowledgement in COP text of what should be an obvious point - that gas and oil need to be phased down. Given the damage caused by these industries - and the persistent greenwashing claims about gas being a “clean energy source” - activists believe it is a vital step.

“There is some scepticism about India’s motivation. It was famously slow to support the inclusion of phasing down coal in the Glasgow pact, and led a charge that watered down the language from phasing out coal.

“Some observers believe India is pushing the broader definition in part because it is less likely to win consensus support. India uses little gas, so has little to lose from the change.”

Despite it being absent from the draft, Morton says it is now on the table, which means pressure will grow for its inclusion in this and future agreements.

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Call for the Egyptian presidency to rewrite the draft

The international NGO ActionAid is calling on the Egyptian presidency to withdraw and rewrite the draft.

Teresa Anderson, global lead on climate justice, said: “After encouraging language proposed by India and supported by the EU and even US, the language in the draft around phaseout of fossil fuels is far too weak, referring only to ‘unabated coal’.

“What we need is an equitable phase out of all fossil fuels if we’re going to ensure the world’s temperature does not rise above 1.5C but this plan won’t achieve that.

“The language on finance is similarly weak …the global climate crisis cannot be resolved unless rich countries take action the fastest, including by providing finance for developing countries.

“We urgently call on the presidency to recover this note.”

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Satyendra Prasad, the Fiji ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations, represents a country that is one of the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

“Fossil fuels must be phased out, period,” said Prasad. “Who is saying it must be phased down? Anyone who is saying they must be phased down … Tell us, show us the pace at which you are exponentially increasing your ‘phasing down’? Show us the numbers and let it be convincing. There is no question, there is no stable planet for all of us including those who are arguing for a slower phasing down, that fossil fuels are not part of a 1.5C feature for the planet. That era is gone, that time has passed and all we need is commitment and energy and pace, and the global solidarity that allows us to phase out, period.”

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The summit is now likely to be extended beyond its scheduled end on Friday, say observers, with all-night sessions likely in an attempt to form an agreement and fill gaps in the document.

Demonstrators participate in a sit-in calling for action on the issue of loss and damage at the summit.
Demonstrators participated in a sit-in this morning, calling for action on the issue of loss and damage at the summit. Photograph: Peter Dejong/AP

Bob Ward, the policy and communications director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, said the document was some way from being a final agreement between all countries.

“It shows little evidence of progress,” he said. “I think it is now certain that this summit will carry on past it scheduled end point into the weekend.

“There is a lot of work for the negotiators to do, including all-night sessions that will test everybody’s endurance. I hope politicians and policy-makers around the world will be pushing their negotiating teams to seek an ambitious and collaborative outcome from Cop27. We can see the growing impacts of climate change all around us harming lives and livelihoods. We are running out of time and the world cannot afford for this summit to fail.”

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So far there is not much optimism emerging around the lack of ambition of the Egyptian presidencies draft Cop27 cover note.

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Away from the hotels of Sharm el-Sheikh, there are reminders across the world of what is at stake in the negotiations on the draft.

The heavy rain behind recent devastating flooding in Nigeria, Niger and Chad was made about 80 times more likely by the climate crisis, a study by the World Weather Attribution group has found.

The finding is the latest stark example of the severe impacts that global heating is already wreaking on communities, even with just a 1C rise in global temperature to date. It adds pressure on countries at Cop27 to deliver meaningful action on protecting and compensating those affected.

“The analysis found a very clear fingerprint of anthropogenic climate change,” said Prof Maarten van Aalst, the director of the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre.

“As scientists, we are not in a position to tell Cop27 negotiators whether it needs to be a loss and damage fund, or a facility, or a mosaic of solutions, as are all being discussed,” he said. “But what is very clear from the science is that this is a real and present problem and that it’s particularly the poorest countries that are getting hit very hard, so it’s clear that solutions are needed.”

Read more here:

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The location for the next Cop …

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Johan Rockström, the director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, like the boy in the Emperor’s New Clothes, brings clarity.

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A reminder of how the world’s leaders arrived at the summit.

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Our correspondent Oliver Milman provides a glimmer of hope on details of 18 countries, including the UK, France and Australia, that have signed up to a US initiative unveiled at Cop27 to get public sector emissions to net zero by 2050.

The scheme is targeted at emissions coming from government use of electricity, cars and other sources, which can be significant. For example, the US Department of Defense, is not only the largest consumer of energy in the US but is also the world’s largest institutional consumer of petroleum from the fuel used in its trucks, tanks, ships and other vehicles.

John Kerry, the US’s climate envoy, said the agreement showed there was a “growing global consensus about the role of governments in the transition” to clean energy.


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As global politicians face difficult discussions on the draft over the coming hours, public opinion appears to be supportive of the idea that richer countries should pay loss and damage finances for climate action in poor countries.

Damian Carrington, our environment editor writes: A significant majority of people in the UK think the country has a responsibility to pay for climate action in poorer and vulnerable countries, an opinion poll conducted for the Guardian shows.

The issue of rich, polluting countries providing substantial funding to developing countries is central to success at Cop27 climate.

The poll told those questioned that the UK’s total emissions over time are among the highest in the world, while poorer countries have produced very few emissions. The results showed 49% of people said the UK did have a responsibility to provide climate funding, with 31% saying the UK did not and 20% saying they did not know.

A separate poll across all G7 countries found 65% of people agreed that richer countries should pay more of the costs of climate action because they were historically responsible for more damage, with 11% disagreeing.

Read more here:

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A recap on the key points in the draft

These seem to be the key points of interest in the draft so far. It is 20 pages long however and more may emerge over the next couple of hours.

  • No details of a fund on loss and damage financing for poorer countries

  • “Welcomes” the fact that parties agreed for the first time to include “matters related to funding arrangements responding to loss and damage” on the summit agenda.

  • No call for a phase down on all fossil fuels

  • Stresses the importance of exerting all efforts to meet Paris Agreement goal of holding global average temperature to well below 2C and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 C

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As Fiona Harvey says this draft repeats the goal from last year’s Glasgow Climate Pact to “to accelerate measures towards the phase down of unabated coal power and phase out and rationalize inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.”

But it does not call for a phase down of all fossil fuels as requested by India and the EU.

Some context as to where this draft document sits in the long history of COP discussions. Last year at Glasgow’s COP26 was the first time that a decision agreed upon by all parties even mentioned fossil fuels and coal as part of the climate.

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Climate Home points out on the draft:

Greenpeace International’s Cop27 head of delegation, Yeb Saño, pulls no punches, saying: “The Cop27 presidency pushes the pedal to the metal on the highway to climate hell.”


Saño went on: “We came to Sharm el-Sheikh to demand real action on meeting and exceeding climate finance and adaptation commitments, a phase out of all fossil fuels and for rich countries to pay for the loss and damage done to the most vulnerable communities within developing countries by agreeing a loss and damage finance fund.

“None of that is on offer in this draft. Climate justice will not be served if this sets the bar for a Cop27 outcome.

“After initially failing to even mention fossil fuels, the draft text is an abdication of responsibility to capture the urgency expressed by many countries to see all oil and gas added to coal for at least a phase down. It is time to end the denial, the fossil fuel age must be brought to a rapid end.”


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What to expect today

In the midst of the explosion of analysis around the 20-page draft, Patrick Greenfield, our correspondent in Sharm el-Sheikh, updates on what to expect from today.

“We are at the business end of the climate summit and all eyes are on the political outcome, known as the “cover decision”. This morning, a draft was finally published. My colleague Fiona Harvey is going through the 20-page text to understand its significance.

In theory, Cop27 is scheduled to finish tomorrow evening but nobody thinks that will happen. The summit is likely to drag on over the weekend as countries wrangle over what should and should not be included in the final wording.

We will bring you updates throughout the day from Egypt as negotiations enter the final stages.”

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Simon Evans, senior policy editor at Carbon Brief also points out the failure to mention all fossil fuels.

The failure to include a call for a phase down in fossil fuels or mention oil and gas is a gaping hole in the draft, critics say.

Reaction to the draft is coming in.

Draft cover text published

Good morning, and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the Cop27 climate conference.

The big news this morning is that the first draft of the cover text has just been published, although it will change significantly in the coming days. Here’s a quick take from Reuters:

The UN climate agency has published a first draft on Thursday of what could be the overarching agreement from the Cop27 climate summit in Egypt However, much of the text is likely to be reworked in the coming days.

The document, labelled a “non-paper”, indicating it is still far from the final version, repeats the goal from last year’s Glasgow climate pact to “to accelerate measures towards the phase-down of unabated coal power and phase out and rationalise inefficient fossil fuel subsidies”.

It does not call for a phase-down of all fossil fuels, as India and the EU had requested. The text does not include details for launching a fund for loss and damage, a key demand from the most climate vulnerable countries such as island nations. Rather, it “welcomes” the fact that parties have agreed for the first time to include “matters related to funding arrangements responding to loss and damage” on the summit agenda.

It does not include a timeline for deciding on whether a separate fund should be created or what it should look like, giving time for negotiators to continue to working on the contentious topic.

The initial reaction from many has been one of disappointment and worry at the pace of progress – with so much to be resolved, it is unlikely the conference will finish on time.

We’ll have more detail on that, and analysis of the text, shortly.

I’m Sandra Laville, and you can send me news tips and questions at sandra.laville@theguardian.com or on Twitter at @sandralaville.

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