British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak arrives in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to attend the Cop27 summit, Nov 6, 2022. Stefan Rousseau/Pool via REUTERS
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt – Leaders from around the globe will begin making speeches at the U.N. climate summit in Egypt on Monday as they seek to whip up ambition in the fight against global warming.
But their messages will likely differ a lot on key points, and their soaring rhetoric will at times clash with performances that have lagged past promises.
Among the lineup for Monday will be the heads of big oil producers Saudi Arabia and UAE that want a future role for fossil fuels; untested right-leaning prime ministers from the UK and Italy wary of government overreach; and leaders from poor climate-vulnerable nations like Niger and Palau keen for international funding.
Scores of other heads of state will speak in a parade of climate oratory that will spill into Tuesday, but many of the world’s biggest emitters will be left until next week or have been left off the schedule entirely.
U.S. President Joe Biden will arrive next week, as will newly elected Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Chinese President Xi Jinping is not scheduled to attend COP27, but he will have an envoy at the conference. India is not on the list, and no representatives from Russia, the target of western sanctions for its war on Ukraine, are currently on the schedule.
Egypt has officially taken the reins as COP host from the UK and has billed the conference as one that will turn the pledges made at the 2021 climate talks in Glasgow into action.
Delegates on Sunday set a positive tone by agreeing to add discussion of compensating poor nations for climate damage to the conference agenda for the first time ever, something that will usher in rounds of tough negotiations.
Other things to watch will include a World Trade Organization report expected Monday about the role of trade policy in climate change, and some expected announcements about forests as climate sinks.