UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced an action plan on Monday for an early warning system against climate disasters.
Speaking at the UN climate summit COP27 in Egypt’s seaside city of Sharm el-Sheikh, Guterres said the plan calls for initial new targeted investments of $ 3.1 billion between 2023 and 2027 – roughly six percent of the requested $50 billion in adaptation financing.
The early warning system would allow communities hazardous climate-related events and would reduce by 30% the damages from extreme climate changes.
Egypt is currently hosting COP27, with more than 100 leaders and heads of states attending the global event to discuss ways to lessen the negative impacts of climate change and adapting to its repercussions.
The U.N. said that 110 heads of state and government plan to address the conference, a larger number than at many previous climate conferences. U.S. President Joe Biden is planning to attend the conference on Friday.
Guterres was unafraid to call out the world’s two largest economies — the US and China — for not working together closely enough to tackle environmental issues.
He added his voice to the calls for a new pact between rich and poor countries to make deeper cuts in emissions with financial help and the phasing out of coal in wealthy nations by 2030 and elsewhere by 2040.
A UN climate change report released in advance of COP27 said that although countries were bending the global emissions curve downward, efforts are still insufficient to stop the global temperature rising to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century.
COP27, which will run until Nov. 18, is the largest annual gathering on climate action involving heads of state, ministers and negotiators, along with climate activists.
Wael Aboulmagd, special representative to the COP27 president, told Reuters that the event will focus on securing separate “loss and damage†funds, or compensation payments to vulnerable countries already suffering from climate-related weather extremes.Â
Last May, Egypt announced its intention to position itself as an impartial arbiter while hosting this year’s summit.
