More than 100 world leaders gathered on Monday in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, for the start of the two-week climate talks against a backdrop of war in Ukraine, economic downturn, rampant inflation and a European energy crisis.
Of the nearly 200 countries that agreed at last year's climate summit to ratchet up the ambition on their emissions-cutting goals, only about 30, including Australia, Indonesia and South Korea, have done so. Espinosa said the success of the 27th Conference of the Parties would hinge partly on how it addresses the urgent need for climate finance not just to help poorer nations transition to clean energy and adapt to a warmer world, but also to cover costs and damages already incurred from climate-fuelled disasters.Simon Stiell, a former climate resilience minister for Grenada, is also expected to champion calls at the summit for more financial support for climate-vulnerable countries.