Hosting a climate summit for 40,000 people in the desert, in the midst of a food and energy crisis, is no mean feat. But sympathy for COP27 host Egypt was running thin within hours of the first delegates arriving at the main venue in Sharm El Sheikh earlier this month.
The site itself was a tangle of temporary marquees and prefabricated structures nestled around an existing conference centre. Lost delegates plodded around in the baking sun, desperately searching for signs of their meeting room. Many were loath to download the official conference app for directions amid serious concerns of state surveillance.
There were long queues for food聽and water, and horror stories of people arriving at their hotels only to find their rooms double-booked or the price hiked by hundreds of dollars per night. 鈥淐haos鈥� was the verdict of a member of the UK delegation.
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The difficulties set the tone for聽a聽conference that often felt as聽if聽it was lacking a clear vision or聽narrative. One minute, delegates could stroll into a side event to watch the launch of a new聽scheme to that聽rely on offsets; the next, they could listen to US climate envoy John Kerry tout to allow US firms to meet their climate goals.
They could sit in on a press conference where analysts warned that the world risks blowing its climate targets because of Europe鈥檚 鈥渄ash for gas鈥� while just metres away, oil and gas firms boasted of聽
Side events designed to demonstrate progress since COP26 on key areas, such as deforestation or fossil fuel financing, heightened the sense of stagnation. At last year鈥檚 talks in Glasgow, UK, 145聽nations promised to halt deforestation by 2030. launched in Sharm El Sheikh designed to deliver that pledge. In聽Glasgow, almost 40聽nations committed to ending public financing for fossil fuel projects abroad, but the initiative attracted no new signatories in Egypt.
Oppressive state policing and聽Sharm El Sheikh鈥檚 sprawling layout聽contributed to the summit鈥檚 muted atmosphere. Egyptian police tried to relegate activists to a designated 鈥減rotest zone鈥� a car ride away from the venue, until 鈥� in an unprecedented move 鈥� the UN granted permission for
As the conference went on, there were flashes of excitement. An address from US president Joe聽Biden was briefly interrupted by the whoops of anti-fossil fuel聽protesters, while the arrival of聽Brazil鈥檚 president-elect Luiz聽In谩cio聽Lula da Silva on 16聽November sparked energetic chants of 鈥�ol锚, ol谩, Lula鈥� through the pavilion halls.
During a speech to delegates, Lula promised to halt deforestation across Brazil by 2030 and to expand climate-friendly farming methods. at the University of S茫o Paulo, Brazil, says these promises could get the聽country to net-zero emissions by聽2040, 10 years earlier than planned. 鈥淔ortunately, I was lucky聽enough to be there when President Lula gave his speech,鈥� he聽says. 鈥淚 was very impressed, it聽was a beautiful speech.鈥�
Rapprochement in Bali
Meanwhile, there was relief as the US and China agreed to restart co-operation on climate issues, after Biden met Chinese president Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. Keen to聽underscore their newfound partnership, China鈥檚 climate envoy at COP27. 鈥淓ven though I currently have a meeting with the German foreign minister, I told her to wait a little bit so I can come and talk to聽all of you,鈥� Xie said at the event.
But behind the scenes, the formal negotiations had hit trouble. By 17聽November, there were fears the summit could collapse altogether as countries butted heads over loss and damage financing. UN secretary-general Ant贸nio Guterres jetted in聽with : 鈥淭his is no time聽for finger-pointing,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he blame game is a recipe for mutually assured destruction.鈥�
It didn鈥檛 stop countries pushing聽the talks to their limit,聽with fraught bargaining continuing well past the summit鈥檚聽official deadline and聽even as the conference site聽itself was dismantled.
Sharm El Sheikh is usually a destination for sun-seekers looking for a week of relaxation. For COP27 delegates, their fortnight in the sun felt, at times, more like a test of endurance.
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