The United Nations climate summit in Egypt this month broke ground with a new agreement to compensate poor nations for the effects of global warming. The creation of ais an important, if overdue, step toward climate justice and one of the top agenda items at the COP27 summit.
Developing nations have long sought help from rich countries as they bear the brunt of the impacts from the overheating of the planet such as droughts, heat waves and floods, even though they are responsible for virtually none of the emissions causing climate change. Yet for years the United States and other wealthy, industrialized nations have refused to address the harm from their pollution. Many of the details of the fund are yet to be worked out, but it’s a first step toward accountability.
The oil industry wants to put a referendum on the ballot to overturn California’s ban on neighborhood drilling. Californians shouldn’t fall for it. Most countries are falling far short of their climate goals under the 2015 Paris agreement, and the world isn’t moving anywhere near fast enough to cut pollution and keep global warming from reaching catastrophic levels.
During last year’s COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland, countries agreed to “revisit and strengthen” their 2030 emissions-reduction commitments by the end of this year, but there’s been a distressing lack of follow-through. By Nov. 18, only 30 countries accounting for 18% of global emissions had updated pledges, and some of those did not even raise their target, according to the