Final yr Cop26 ended with a hard-won settlement and a few optimism that world leaders have been lastly taking necessary steps – nevertheless small – to handle the local weather disaster. Since then the urgency of taking motion has been pushed residence by a listing of maximum climate – from the UK struggling its hottest summer season to Pakistan being engulfed in floods and the Horn of Africa being gripped by a horrible drought.
But as Cop27 begins in Egypt on Sunday, the Guardian’s setting correspondent Fiona Harvey tells Michael Safi, the world’s consideration seems to be anyplace however on the talks. The warfare in Ukraine has led to hovering vitality costs, with world powers at loggerheads and a rush for brand spanking new sources of fossil fuels – creating much more obstacles to consensus-building on decreasing emissions.
Even within the UK, which hosted Cop26 in Glasgow, there appears to be a scarcity of focus. The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, at first mentioned he wouldn’t be attending, though he has U-turned on this, whereas King Charles’s absence has been greeted with dismay. So how will the local weather talks play out – and what would a profitable Cop appear to be this yr?
{Photograph}: Thomas Hartwell/AP
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