[United Nations (UN) climate summits are held every year, for governments to agree steps to limit global temperature rises.They are referred to as COPs, which stands for “Conference of the Parties”. The parties are the attending countries that signed up to the original UN climate agreement in 1992. COP27 is the 27th annual UN meeting on climate. World leaders, policymakers and delegates from nearly 200 countries are at the COP27 UN Climate Summit in Egypt, where they hope to keep alive a goal to avert the worst impacts of climate change.]
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SOME COMMENTS BY WORLD LEADERS, POLICYMAKERS AND DELEGATES AT THE COP27
“Greenhouse gas emissions keep growing. Global temperatures keep rising. And our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible.”
“We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator.”
United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres
“Unless we price carbon predictably on a trajectory that gets us at least to $75 average price per ton of carbon in 2030, we simply don’t create the incentive for businesses and consumers to shift.”
IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva
“The UAE is considered a responsible supplier of energy and it will continue playing this role for as long as the world is in need of oil and gas.”
United Arab Emirates President, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan
“The lengthy discussions at COPs with its stalling, delaying tactics and procrastination, that have hampered implementation and delivery is simply cruel and unjust. We cannot afford to spend more time skirting around the real issues, and we must break out of the open ended process-focused discussions we are trapped in.”
“In the face of impending catastrophe, whose warning signs are already unbearably disastrous, weak action is unwise. No action is dangerous.”
William Ruto, President of Kenya
“Even if Africa contributes less than 4 per cent of greenhouse gases, it subscribes to frugal development of carbon, resilient to climate change, for a goal of carbon neutrality in a reasonable timeframe. We are for a green transition that is equitable and just, instead of decisions that jeopardise our development, including universal access to electricity to which 600 million Africans remain deprived.”
Macky Sall, President of Senegal and Chairperson of the African Union
“How do companies make $200 billion dollars in profits in the last three months and not expect to contribute at least 10 cents in every dollar of profit to a loss and damage fund. This is what our people expect.”
Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados
“We have a credibility problem all of us: We’re talking and we’re starting to act, but we’re not doing enough.”
“We must see the so-called ‘dash for gas’ for what it really is: a dash down a bridge to nowhere, leaving the countries of the world facing climate chaos and billions in stranded assets, especially here in Africa.”
“We have to move beyond the era of fossil fuel colonialism.”
Former US President, Al Gore
“Even if our world has changed, the climate issue cannot be a balancing item of the war unleashed by Russia on Ukrainian soil (…) We will not sacrifice our commitments to the climate due to the Russian threat in terms of energy so all countries must continue to uphold all their commitments.”
Emmanuel Macron, President of France
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“We should say clearly the rich countries – the top polluters – are the ones who are most to blame for endangering humanity.”
Faustin Archange Touadera, President of Central African Republic
“There can be no effective climate policy without the peace … There are still many for whom climate change is just rhetoric or marketing … but not real action … They are the ones who start wars of aggression when the planet cannot afford a single gunshot because it needs global joint action.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine
“The global fossil fuel crisis must be a game-changer. So let us not take the ‘highway to hell’ but let’s earn the clean ticket to heaven.”
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission
“In the face of impending catastrophe, whose warning signs are already unbearably disastrous, weak action is unwise. No action is dangerous.”
William Ruto, President of Kenya
“When nations such as Pakistan undergo the kind of profound shock they’ve just gone through, when small island nations in the Caribbean every year worry about in 12 hours losing a third or more of their GDP … you have created an economically impossible scenario.”
Achim Steiner, Administrator of the UN Development Programme
“There is no money going to Sub-Saharan Africa. Full stop. I would like to challenge everybody: Do more.”
Axel van Trotsenburg, Managing Director of Operations, World Bank
“We are, in fact, climate negative. But despite this, we are highly climate vulnerable … Promises made must be kept. Therefore, on behalf of all children and the next generation, we urgently call on historic emitters to do their part to safeguard out world. My country is doing our part with the limited resources and capacity.”
Chandrikapersad Santokhi, President of Suriname
“Climate security goes hand in hand with energy security. Putin’s abhorrent war in Ukraine and rising energy prices across the world are not a reason to go slow on climate change. They are a reason to act faster.”
Rishi Sunak, British Prime Minister
“No matter how much the external environment changes, and no matter how many challenges we face, China has firm determination to achieve this vision of carbon neutrality.”
Xie Zhenhua, Chinese Climate Envoy
“It is up to the G20 countries responsible for 80% of global emissions that we are beholden to for our survival. Our survival is being held to ransom at the cost of profit and an unwillingness to act despite the ability to do so.”
Mark Brown, Prime Minister of the Cook Islands
