AFP UK

Climate activists holding a vigil for people around the world experiencing the most severe climate impacts during the UN COP26 conference in Glasgow

Vulnerable nations least responsible for planet-heating emissions have been battling for three decades for wealthy polluters to cough up the cash for climate damages.

Their final push took barely two weeks.

The “loss and damage” inflicted by climate-induced disasters was not even officially up for discussion when UN talks in Egypt began.

But a concerted effort among developing countries to make it the defining issue of the conference melted the resistance of wealthy polluters long fearful of open-ended liability, and gathered unstoppable momentum as the talks progressed.

In the end a decision to create a loss and damage fund was the first item confirmed on Sunday morning after fraught negotiations went overnight with nations clashing over a range of issues around curbing planet-heating emissions.

“At the beginning of these talks loss and damage was not even on the agenda and now we are making history,” said Mohamed Adow, executive director of Power Shift Africa.  

“It just shows that this UN process can achieve results, and that the world can recognise the plight of the vulnerable must not be treated as a political football.”

Loss and damage covers a broad sweep of climate impacts, from bridges and homes washed away in flash flooding, to the threatened disappearance of cultures and whole island nations to the creeping rise of sea levels.

Observers say that the failure of rich polluters both to curb emissions and to meet their promise of funding to help countries boost climate resilience means that losses and damages are inevitably growing as the planet warms.

Event attribution science now makes it possible to measure how much global warming increases the likelihood or intensity of an individual cyclone, heat wave, drought or heavy rain event.

This year, an onslaught of climate-induced disasters — from catastrophic floods in Pakistan to severe drought threatening famine in Somalia — battered countries already struggling with the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and soaring food and energy costs. 

“Everyone also now realises that things have gone way beyond our control,” said Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International.

– Who pays? –

The agreement was a high-wire balancing act, over seemingly unbridgeable differences. 

On the one hand the G77 and China bloc of 134 developing countries called for the immediate creation of a fund at COP27, with operational details to be agreed later.

Richer nations like the United States and European Union accepted that countries in the crosshairs of climate-driven disasters need money, but favoured a “mosaic” of funding arrangements.

They also wanted money to be focused on the most climate-vulnerable countries and for there to be a broader set of donors.

That is code for countries including China and Saudi Arabia that have become wealthier since they were listed as developing nations in 1992.

After last minute tussles over wording, the final loss and damage document decided to create a fund, as part of a broad array of funding arrangements for developing countries “that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change”.

Other key points of contention were left ambiguous, or put into the remit of a new transitional committee that will be tasked with coming up with a plan for making the decisions a reality for the 2023 UN climate summit in Dubai. 

A reference to expanding sources of funding, “is vague enough to pass”, said Ines Benomar, researcher at think tank E3G.

But she said debates about whether China — the world’s biggest emitter — among others should maintain its status as “developing” was likely to reemerge next year. 

“The discussion is postponed, but now there is more attention to it,” she said. 

For his part, China’s envoy Xie Zhenhua told reporters Saturday that the fund should be for all developing countries. 

However, he added: “I hope that it could be provided to the fragile countries first.”

– ‘Empty bucket’ –

Singh said other innovative sources of finance — like levies on fossil fuel extraction or air passengers — could raise “hundreds of billions of dollars”. 

Pledges for loss and damage so far are miniscule in comparison to the scale of the damages. 

They include $50 million from Austria, $13 million from Denmark and $8 million from Scotland. 

Some $200 million has also been pledged — mainly from Germany — to the “Global Shield” project, launched by G7 economies and climate vulnerable nations.   

The World Bank has estimated the Pakistan floods alone caused $30 billion in damages and economic loss.

Depending on how deeply the world slashes carbon pollution, loss and damage from climate change could cost developing countries $290 to 580 billion a year by 2030, reaching $1 trillion to 1.8 trillion in 2050, according to 2018 research.

Adow said that a loss and damage fund was just the first step.  

“What we have is an empty bucket,” he said. 

“Now we need to fill it so that support can flow to the most impacted people who are suffering right now at the hands of the climate crisis.”

The Paris Agreement said global warming should be slashed to well below two degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels

COP27 host Egypt scrambled to salvage UN climate talks Saturday with crunch negotiations hanging on tussles over driving forward action to fight global warming in a world facing an onslaught of deadly weather extremes.

The two-week talks, already a day into overtime, have whiplashed between fears the process could collapse, to hopes of a major breakthrough on “loss and damage” funding for climate vulnerable nations.

With delegates from nearly 200 countries still at loggerheads as talks dragged passed midnight, delegates told AFP that the remaining issues focused how to speed the greening of the global economy, including a controversial pledge to move away from planet-heating fossil fuels.

Earlier, the European Union said it would rather “no result” than a bad one, over concerns that final decision documents would be weak on curbing emissions. 

Spanish minister Teresa Ribera said it was a “complicated situation”, with countries pushing for language on ramping down fossil fuels “to be harder”.

An adviser to Papua New Guinea, Kevin Conrad, said the “usual suspects” were attempting to remove all reference to the issue. In the past, Saudi Arabia in particular has sought to block such language.   

Conversely the deal on loss and damage — which barely made it onto the negotiation agenda — gathered critical momentum during the talks and appeared to be headed for confirmation at a closing plenary, according to multiple delegations.

Earlier, European sources confirmed “a deal has been reached” on a loss and damage fund for vulnerable countries. 

Pakistan’s Climate Minister Sherry Rehman said she was “hopeful of a positive outcome”, adding a deal would be the culmination of a 30-year campaign by developing countries. 

“If that happens today, that will be a historic reminder to vulnerable people all over the world that they have a voice and that if they unite… we can actually start breaking down barriers that we thought were impossible,” she told AFP. 

Pakistan — struck by devastating heat waves and floods this year — chairs the G77 and China bloc of 134 developing nations, which has campaigned strongly for a fund for loss and damage to be agreed at COP27.

With around 1.2C of warming so far, the world has seen a cascade of climate-driven extremes in recent months, shining a spotlight on the plight of developing countries faced with escalating disasters, as well as an energy and food price crisis and ballooning debt. 

The World Bank has estimated the Pakistan floods alone caused $30 billion in damage and economic loss. 

– Temperature check –

But with countries continuing to raise concerns over ambitions on cutting emissions and tackling global warming, the outcome of the climate talks remained uncertain. 

An informal coalition of “high ambition” countries has called for strong language on cutting emissions, moving away from planet-heating fossil fuels and to reaffirm the aspirational goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels.

Scientists say this is a far safer guardrail against catastrophic climate impacts, with the world currently far off track and heading for around 2.5C of warming under current commitments and plans.

Colombian Environment Minister Susana Muhamad said to be “viable” the climate talks would need both a loss and damage fund and a commitment to 1.5C.  

Earlier, European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans warned that if not enough was done to slash emissions and keep 1.5C alive, “there is no amount of money on this planet that will be able to address the misery that will occur through natural disasters, etc. that we’re already seeing”.

– ‘Fragile’ first –

A draft decision document on creating a specific loss and damage fund was published by the Egyptian presidency on Saturday. 

It takes some language from three earlier proposals — from the EU, Britain and G77 — and appears to kick some of the thornier issues, particularly over the sources of funding, into next year. 

“The draft decision on loss and damage finance offers hope to the vulnerable people that they will get help to recover from climate disasters and rebuild their lives,” said Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International.

An agreement on loss and damage would mark a major shift for wealthier nations, which have long resisted the idea of loss and damage over fears of open-ended liability. 

The EU has called for the fund to prioritise the most climate-vulnerable countries as recipients.

They also said the money should come from a “broad funder base” — code for countries including China and Saudi Arabia that have become wealthier since they were listed as developing nations in 1992.

China’s envoy Xie Zhenhua told reporters Saturday that the fund should be for all developing countries. 

However, he added: “I hope that it could be provided to the fragile countries first.” 

The Paris Agreement said global warming should be slashed to well below two degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels, and preferably to the safer rise of 1.5C

COP27 host Egypt scrambled to salvage UN climate talks Saturday with the European Union and Pakistan signalling a breakthrough over the contentious issue of “loss and damage” funding for climate vulnerable nations.  

Nearly 200 countries’ representatives have gathered at the COP27 in Egypt for two weeks with the aim of driving forward action to fight climate change as the world faces a worsening onslaught of weather extremes.

But the talks stalled over the terms under which wealthy polluters provide “loss and damage” funding for countries wracked by climate disasters, as well as over ratcheting up ambition in tackling global warming.

After the European Union roundly rejected a document shown by Egypt overnight because of concerns it was weak on curbing emissions, a source from the bloc said at least the loss and damage issue was “agreed” as far as it was concerned. 

A European source confirmed “a deal has been reached on loss and damage which targets the fund to vulnerable countries”.

The agreement was still subject to confirmation at a closing meeting. 

Pakistan’s Climate Minister Sherry Rehman said she was “hopeful of a positive outcome” on loss and damage, with last details still being worked out to get the final agreement over the line.

She said a deal would be the culmination of a 30-year campaign by developing countries. 

“If that happens today, that will be a historic reminder to vulnerable people all over the world that they have a voice and that if they unite… we can actually start breaking down barriers that we thought were impossible,” she told AFP. 

Pakistan — struck by devastating heat waves and floods this year — chairs the G77 and China bloc of 134 developing nations, which has campaigned strongly for a fund for loss and damage to be agreed at COP27.

With around 1.2C of warming so far, the world has seen a cascade of climate-driven extremes in recent months, shining a spotlight on the plight of developing countries faced with escalating disasters, as well as an energy and food price crisis and ballooning debt. 

The World Bank has estimated the Pakistan floods alone caused $30 billion in damage and economic loss. 

– Temperature check –

But with countries continuing to raise concerns over ambitions on cutting emissions and tackling global warming, the outcome of the climate talks remained uncertain. 

An informal coalition of “high ambition” countries has called for strong language on cutting emissions, moving away from planet-heating fossil fuels and to reaffirm the aspirational goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels.

Scientists say this is a far safer guardrail against catastrophic climate impacts, with the world currently far off track and heading for around 2.5C of warming under current commitments and plans.

Colombian Environment Minister Susana Muhamad said to be “viable” the climate talks would need both a loss and damage fund and a commitment to 1.5C with clear signals that the world was not “going back”.  

Tom Evans of the think tank E3G said a draft document covering ambitions for curbing planet-heating emissions is “a copy-paste” of the agreement made at Glasgow, without building on the agreement made a year ago. 

Earlier, the EU indicated it was willing to walk out of the negotiations altogether over the issue.

European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans warned that if not enough is done to slash emissions and keep 1.5C alive, “there is no amount of money on this planet that will be able to address the misery that will occur through natural disasters, etc. that we’re already seeing”.

– ‘Fragile’ first –

A draft decision document on creating a specific loss and damage fund was published by the Egyptian presidency on Saturday. 

It takes some language from three earlier proposals — from the EU, Britain and G77 — and appears to kick some of the thornier issues, particularly over the sources of funding, into next year. 

“The draft decision on loss and damage finance offers hope to the vulnerable people that they will get help to recover from climate disasters and rebuild their lives,” said Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International.

An agreement on loss and damage would mark a major shift for wealthier nations, which have long resisted the idea of loss and damage over fears of open-ended liability. 

The EU has called for the fund to prioritise the most climate-vulnerable countries as recipients.

They also said the money should come from a “broad funder base” — code for countries including China and Saudi Arabia that have become wealthier since they were listed as developing nations in 1992.

China’s envoy Xie Zhenhua told reporters Saturday that the fund should be for all developing countries. 

However, he added: “I hope that it could be provided to the fragile countries first.” 

The Paris Agreement said global warming should be slashed to well below two degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels, and preferably to the safer rise of 1.5C

COP27 host Egypt scrambled to salvage UN climate talks Saturday with the European Union signalling a breakthrough over the contentious issue of “loss and damage” funding for climate vulnerable nations.  

Nearly 200 countries’ representatives have gathered at the COP27 in Egypt for two weeks with the aim of driving forward action to fight climate change as the world faces a worsening onslaught of weather extremes.

But the talks stalled over the terms under which wealthy polluters provide “loss and damage” funding for countries wracked by climate disasters, as well as over ratcheting up ambition in tackling global warming.

After the European Union roundly rejected a document shown by Egypt overnight, a source from the bloc said at least the loss and damage issue was “agreed” as far as it was concerned. 

A European source confirmed “a deal has been reached on loss and damage which targets the fund to vulnerable countries”. 

A draft document on creating a specific loss and damage fund was published by the Egyptian presidency on Saturday. 

It takes some language from three earlier proposals — from the EU, Britain and the G77 and China bloc of 134 developing nations — and appears to kick some of the thornier issues, particularly over the sources of funding, into next year. 

“The draft decision on loss and damage finance offers hope to the vulnerable people that they will get help to recover from climate disasters and rebuild their lives,” said Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International.

– Temperature check –

Earlier, European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said the EU would “rather have no result than a bad result” and was willing to walk out of the negotiations altogether.

The EU wants COP27 to have strong language on cutting emissions and to reaffirm the aspirational goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels.

Scientists say this is a far safer guardrail against catastrophic climate impacts, with the world currently far off track and heading for around 2.5C of warming under current commitments and plans.

“We are not here to produce papers, but to keep the 1.5C target alive,” said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. 

The Egyptian COP27 presidency also released a new draft final statement that states the need to accelerate “efforts towards the phasedown of unabated coal power and phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies”.

And another document was released specifically covering ambitions for curbing planet-heating emissions. 

On the need to be more ambitious in slowing the rise in global temperatures, Tom Evans of the think tank E3G said it is “a copy-paste” of the agreement made at Glasgow without building on the agreement made a year ago. 

– Make or break –

Many developing countries see the creation of a loss and damage fund at this meeting as a defining issue of the talks.  

The G77 and China bloc called for the immediate creation of such a fund at COP27, with operational details to be agreed later.

A counter proposal from the EU called to prioritise the most climate-vulnerable countries as recipients.

They also said the money should come from a “broad funder base” — code for countries including China and Saudi Arabia that have become wealthier since they were listed as developing nations in 1992.

Earlier, Timmermans warned that if not enough is done to slash emissions and keep 1.5C alive, “there is no amount of money on this planet that will be able to address the misery that will occur through natural disasters, etc, that we’re already seeing,” he said.

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries agreed to limit global warming to “well below” 2C and preferably 1.5C. 

This more ambitious 1.5C target was embraced last year in Glasgow, with countries agreeing to annually review their carbon reduction goals.

With around 1.2C of warming so far, the world has seen a cascade of climate-driven extremes in recent months — from floods in Pakistan and Nigeria to heatwaves and droughts across the world.

That has shone a spotlight on the plight of developing countries faced with escalating disasters, as well as an energy and food price crisis and ballooning debt. 

The World Bank has estimated the Pakistan floods alone caused $30 billion in damages and economic loss. Millions of people were displaced and two million homes destroyed.

COP27 participants have criticised Egypt’s handling of the talks, which have gone far into overtime. 

NASA's Orion spacecraft en route for the Moon, with the Earth in the background, in a photo released by NASA in November 2022

On the third day after lifting off from Florida bound for the Moon, the Orion spacecraft is “exceeding performance expectations,” NASA officials said on Friday. 

The spacecraft is to take astronauts to the Moon in the coming years — the first to set foot on its surface since the last Apollo mission in 1972. 

This first test flight, without a crew on board, aims to ensure that the vehicle is safe.

“Today we met to review the Orion spacecraft performance… it is exceeding performance expectations,” said Mike Sarafin, head of the Artemis 1 mission. 

The spacecraft’s four solar panels, about 13 feet (four meters) long, deployed correctly and are providing more energy than expected, said Jim Geffre, the Orion manager at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. 

It is from that control center in Texas that the spacecraft is being piloted. 

Orion is already some 200,000 miles (320,000 kilometers) from Earth and preparing to perform the first of four main thrusts scheduled during the mission using its engines. 

This maneuver, which will take place early Monday morning, will bring the spacecraft as close as 80 miles (130 kilometers) from the lunar surface, in order to take advantage of the Moon’s gravitational force. 

Since this will take place on the far side of the Moon, NASA is expected to lose contact with the spacecraft for approximately 35 minutes.

“We will be passing over some of the Apollo landing sites,” said  flight director Jeff Radigan, although they will be in darkness. Footage of the flyover will be released by NASA.

Four days later, a second thrust from the engines will place Orion in a distant orbit around the Moon. 

The ship will go up to 40,000 miles beyond the Moon, a record for a habitable capsule. 

It will then begin the journey back to Earth, with a landing in the Pacific Ocean scheduled for December 11, after just over 25 days of flight. 

The success of this mission will determine the future of the Artemis 2 mission, which will take astronauts around the Moon without landing, then Artemis 3, which will finally mark the return of humans to the lunar surface. 

Those missions are scheduled to take place in 2024 and 2025, respectively. 

Sarafin also said Friday that 10 scientific micro-satellites had been deployed when the rocket took off, but that half of them were experiencing technical or communication problems. 

Those experiments, carried out separately by independent teams, will have no impact on the main mission, however.

The Paris Agreement said global warming should be slashed to well below two degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels, and preferably to the safer rise of 1.5C

UN climate talks were thrown into disarray Saturday as the EU rejected a proposal by host country Egypt for lacking ambition on emissions cuts and warned it would rather leave with no deal than a bad one. 

Nearly 200 countries’ representatives have gathered at the COP27 in Egypt for two weeks with the aim of driving forward action on climate change as the world faces a worsening onslaught of weather extremes.

But the talks have deadlocked over calls that wealthy polluters provide “loss and damage” funding for countries wracked by climate disasters, as well as over ambition in tackling global warming.

After negotiations stretched through the night following the last official day Friday, the European Union roundly rejected a draft document from Egypt.

European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said the EU would “rather have no result than a bad result” and was willing to walk out of the negotiations altogether.

But he added that the 27-nation bloc was still hoping for a good outcome.

The EU wants COP27 to have strong language on cutting emissions and to reaffirm the aspirational goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels.

“We are not here to produce papers, but to keep the 1.5C target alive,” said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, however, said he was still hopeful of a “breakthrough” and defended his proposal. 

“The vast majority of the parties indicated to me they considered the text as balanced and that they constitute a potential breakthrough that can lead to consensus,” he said.

– ‘Unacceptable’ for EU –

Many developing countries see the creation of a loss and damage fund at this meeting as a defining issue of the talks.  

The EU has put forward a proposal to create such a fund — but has called for a broader set of donors and prioritising the most climate-vulnerable countries as recipients. 

Timmermans said he was “worried” about the direction the negotiations took overnight.

He warned that if not enough is done to slash emissions and keep 1.5C alive, “there is no amount of money on this planet that will be able to address the misery that will occur through natural disasters, etc, that we’re already seeing,” he said.

With around 1.2C of warming so far, the world has seen a cascade of climate-driven extremes in recent months — from floods in Pakistan and Nigeria to heatwaves and droughts across the world.

An official from the French energy transition ministry told AFP that the proposal from the Egyptian presidency, which has not been published officially, sought to undermine gains in emission reductions made last year at the Glasgow climate talks.

“This is unacceptable for France and for European Union countries,” she said, adding that the proposed decision text would remove an obligation of countries to regularly strengthen their national targets in order to meet the 1.5C goal.

– Egypt criticised –

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries agreed to limit global warming to “well below” two degrees Celsius compared to the late 19th century. 

They also signed on to an aspirational goal of capping the rise in temperature to 1.5C, which scientists subsequently confirmed was a far safer guardrail against catastrophic climate impacts.

This more ambitious 1.5C target was embraced last year in Glasgow, with countries agreeing to annually review their carbon reduction goals.

COP27 participants have criticised Egypt’s handling of the talks, which have gone far into overtime with little sign of consensus on a daunting list of areas under contention. 

The G77 and China bloc of 134 developing countries launched an opening gambit on loss and damage this week, with a proposal to create a fund at COP27, with operational details to be agreed later.

A compromise response from the EU, proposed late Thursday, suggested a fund specifically for the most vulnerable nations, saying the money should come from a “broad funder base” — code for countries including China and Saudi Arabia that have become wealthier since they were listed as developing nations in 1992.

Britain and several other countries have circulated a new draft proposal document, seen by AFP and confirmed by a source close to the negotiations, which suggested the fund could be part of a range of “funding arrangements”.

Rich countries are also under pressure to finally fulfil promises to provide $100 billion a year to help developing countries green their economies and adapt to future impacts.

US Vice President Kamala Harris has announced that San Francisco will host the 2023 APEC summit, with climate high on the agenda

Asia-Pacific leaders will gather in November 2023 in San Francisco with climate high on the agenda, Vice President Kamala Harris announced Saturday, offering an opportunity for a rare US visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Harris, who is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, announced the week beginning November 12, 2023 for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, as this year’s meeting wrapped up in Bangkok.

“There is no better place to host APEC 2023 than California, a state known for economic innovation,” Harris said.

She said that President Joe Biden’s administration would focus the summit on sustainability and moving economies away from carbon as part of the fight against climate change.

“We will promote economic growth and prosperity for the American people, and people throughout the Indo-Pacific region,” she said, using another term for the Asia-Pacific.

During the talks in Bangkok, Harris asked leaders to prepare new targets for reducing emissions from the power sector in time for next year’s summit, a US official said.

She also proposed an APEC-wide goal on slashing methane, one of the most powerful greenhouse gases, which is released from oil and gas production and agriculture.

The official said Harris asked for specific commitments as most APEC nations already have longer-range goals on zeroing out the emissions responsible for climate change.

APEC, born in the 1980s, is focused on trade rather than political questions and each year offers an occasion for leaders of the 21 members to meet on the sidelines.

The APEC forum this year took place immediately after a summit in Bali of G20 economies, where Xi met Biden in their first meeting as heads of state.

Harris also spoke to Xi at the APEC summit, part of a renewed effort by the world’s two largest economies to prevent tensions from spiralling out of control.

Xi last visited the United States in 2017, meeting then-president Donald Trump at his Florida estate, but relations between the two countries later sharply deteriorated over trade, Taiwan, human rights and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Russia is also an APEC member but, unlike with Xi, the United States has made clear that it will not deal as normal with its President Vladimir Putin after he ignored warnings and invaded Ukraine in February.

The United States earlier announced that APEC foreign ministers will meet next year in Seattle and that trade officials would gather in Detroit.

The United States last hosted APEC in 2011 when then-president Barack Obama invited leaders to his birth state of Hawaii.

Climate activists protest outside the COP27 conference in Sharm el-Sheikh

Climate negotiators were grappling for an agreement Saturday at the UN COP27 in Egypt after high stakes talks went deep into the night with key sticking points over funding for countries wracked by climate disasters and ambition in tackling global warming.

The meeting at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh has been dominated by the controversial issue of climate “loss and damage” funds to help developing nations cope with the impacts of increasingly intense and costly floods, heatwaves and droughts.

Wealthy nations, long reluctant to discuss the issue over fears of liability, have accepted that vulnerable nations are facing devastating impacts.

But there are disagreements over who pays and which countries are considered particularly affected.

With nations struggling to find common ground, Britain and several other countries circulated new suggestions trying to break the deadlock late Friday.

The issue was among a daunting list of outstanding areas of contention at the COP27 talks, where representatives from nearly 200 countries have gathered with the aim of driving forward action on climate change as the world faces a worsening onslaught of weather extremes.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, who chairs the COP27 talks, told delegates on Friday — the day talks were officially due to end — that the negotiations would go into Saturday.

“I remain concerned at the number of outstanding issues,” he said.

Delegates are looking to find agreement on emissions-cutting ambitions and reaffirm a goal to limit average warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels, which scientists say is a safer guardrail to avoid the most dangerous impacts.

– Pressure over $100 bn promise –

Rich countries are also under pressure to finally fulfil promises to provide $100 billion a year to help developing countries green their economies and adapt to future impacts.

For many vulnerable countries loss and damage is the defining issue of the conference, with some saying the success of the meeting hinges on the creation of a specific fund at the Egypt talks.

Richer nations, which have previously baulked at the issue over fears of open-ended liability, have accepted that countries in the crosshairs of increasingly destructive climate-driven disasters need funding help, but have called for a broader set of donors — and prioritising the most climate-vulnerable countries as recipients.

The G77 and China bloc of 134 developing countries launched an opening gambit on loss and damage this week, with a proposal to create a fund at COP27, with operational details to be agreed later.

A compromise response from the European Union, proposed late Thursday, suggested a fund specifically for the most vulnerable nations saying the money should come from a “broad funder base” — code for countries including China and Saudi Arabia that have become wealthier since they were listed as developing nations in 1992.

Britain and several other countries have circulated a new draft proposal document, seen by AFP and confirmed by a source close to the negotiations, which suggested the fund could be part of a range of “funding arrangements”.

The document, which has not been formally submitted to the UN process, suggested the new source of monies could be operationalised in two years.

But this would “only agree some ambiguous funding arrangements that kick the can down the road” said Mohamed Adow, of the think tank Power Shift Africa.  

NASA's Orion spacecraft en route for the Moon, with the Earth in the background, in a photo released by NASA in November 2022

On the third day after lifting off from Florida bound for the Moon, the Orion spacecraft is “exceeding performance expectations,” NASA officials said on Friday. 

The spacecraft is to take astronauts to the Moon in the coming years — the first to set foot on its surface since the last Apollo mission in 1972. 

This first test flight, without a crew on board, aims to ensure that the vehicle is safe.

“Today we met to review the Orion spacecraft performance… it is exceeding performance expectations,” said Mike Sarafin, head of the Artemis 1 mission. 

The spacecraft’s four solar panels, about 13 feet (four meters) long, deployed correctly and are providing more energy than expected, said Jim Geffre, the Orion manager at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. 

It is from that control center in Texas that the spacecraft is being piloted. 

Orion is already some 200,000 miles (320,000 kilometers) from Earth and preparing to perform the first of four main thrusts scheduled during the mission using its engines. 

This maneuver, which will take place early Monday morning, will bring the spacecraft as close as 80 miles (130 kilometers) from the lunar surface, in order to take advantage of the Moon’s gravitational force. 

Since this will take place on the far side of the Moon, NASA is expected to lose contact with the spacecraft for approximately 35 minutes.

“We will be passing over some of the Apollo landing sites,” said  flight director Jeff Radigan, although they will be in darkness. Footage of the flyover will be released by NASA.

Four days later, a second thrust from the engines will place Orion in a distant orbit around the Moon. 

The ship will go up to 40,000 miles beyond the Moon, a record for a habitable capsule. 

It will then begin the journey back to Earth, with a landing in the Pacific Ocean scheduled for December 11, after just over 25 days of flight. 

The success of this mission will determine the future of the Artemis 2 mission, which will take astronauts around the Moon without landing, then Artemis 3, which will finally mark the return of humans to the lunar surface. 

Those missions are scheduled to take place in 2024 and 2025, respectively. 

Sarafin also said Friday that 10 scientific micro-satellites had been deployed when the rocket took off, but that half of them were experiencing technical or communication problems. 

Those experiments, carried out separately by independent teams, will have no impact on the main mission, however.

Centre-left Albanese was swept to power this year on a wave of popular anger about the pro-fossil fuel stance of Australia's decade-old conservative government

Australia hopes to host the 2026 COP summit, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Saturday, seeking to overhaul his country’s reputation for foot-dragging on climate change.

“It is a good opportunity, I believe, for Australia to show and to host what is a major global event,” Albanese said during a visit to Bangkok.

Centre-left Albanese was swept to power this year on a wave of popular anger about the pro-fossil fuel stance of Australia’s decade-old conservative government.  

He has since introduced a 2050 net zero emissions target — not ambitious by world standards, but a near-revolution for Australia, one of the world’s largest gas and coal producers.

He has also vowed to co-host a COP summit with Pacific Island allies — who are under serious threat from rising sea levels and who have long criticised Australia’s climate change scepticism.

Albanese may have hoped to host the event before he faces reelection in 2025, but diplomatic horse-trading means 2026 is now more likely. 

The United Arab Emirates is slated to host the talks in 2023, a European country is hoping for the 2024 event and Brazil is bidding for the 2025 talks, leaving 2026 as the most likely option for Australia. 

“I’ve had a very positive response from all of the nations that I have raised it with,” Albanese said.

If the summit materialises, it would be symbolic of a dramatic shift for Australia.

At successive COP talks, the country’s delegation has been a thorn in the side of negotiators, refusing to compromise and winning deep carve-outs that significantly weakened overall agreements. 

The Climate Council’s Wesley Morgan — an expert on Australia and Pacific policy — described Australia’s COP bid as a “very big deal”.

It would, he argued, confirm Australia’s shift away from fossil fuels, improve sometimes fraught relations with the Pacific Islands and may force even Canberra to adopt more ambitious targets.

“Hopefully (it) means Australia will commit serious policy for deeper emissions cuts this decade,” he said.

Australia remains a large fossil fuel producer and coal mining provides thousands of jobs in key electoral districts. 

But simmering public anger at devastating bushfires and two years of massive flooding have boosted domestic support for change.

Albanese has vowed to turn the sun-kissed island-continent into what he calls a “renewable energy superpower”.