Ukraine war cannot provide ‘pretext for backsliding’ at UN climate talks COP27, host Egypt urges
The energy and food crises fuelled by the war in Ukraine are an unacceptable “pretext for backsliding” at the United Nations COP27 climate talks, host nation Egypt has warned.
With just over a month until the next yearly summit, ambassador Wael Aboulmagd, Egypt’s COP27 special representative, acknowledged the “complicating factors” that could hinder this year’s talks.
In a thinly veiled message to those involved in the war, Mr Aboulmagd urged countries to “put political differences aside” at the talks in Sharm El-Sheikh, and “expedite” rather than slow down the transition to green power.
The geopolitical context has changed radically since last year’s COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, with the war in Ukraine often knocking climate change down the agenda.
Wael Aboulmagd, special representative to the COP27 president. (File pic)
Energy prices have soared as Russia cut supplies to Europe in retaliation to Western sanctions over its invasion.
Meanwhile scores of countries have been pummelled by devastating floods, wildfires and droughts, super-charged by climate change.
While the gas squeeze has accelerated plans to shift to clean power in the European Union and beyond, some countries are also expanding fossil fuel production or firing up old coal plants.
But it is “high time” to implement the Paris Agreement, struck in 2015 at COP21, “in its totality”, Mr Aboulmagd said in a briefing.
“We can see that the [climate] devastation is enormous and that we have huge gaps when it comes to emissions reduction… adapting to climate change and of course, the finance gap which everyone is aware of,” he told reporters.
Developing nations hope that lower-middle income Egypt’s turn to host the yearly talks will put pressure on rich, polluting countries to stump up promised, long overdue cash to help them cope with the fallout from climate breakdown.
Rich countries, responsible for a disproportionate amount of climate-heating emissions, are falling around $16bn short of their target to channel $100bn a year by 2020 to their poorer counterparts to help them cope with climate change .
Egypt has promised to make it a key objectives to make progress the contentious debate around climate reparations, with poor countries asking rich countries to pay for the losses and damages they are suffering that are beyond the realms of adaptation.
That debate was crystallised by this summer’s violent and deadly flooding in Pakistan, which inflicted an estimated $10 billion of damage, displaced 33 million people and killed at least 1,300 in a country that has contributed very little to global heating.
Egypt is hosting this year’s COP talks in November
Who should pay for a ‘climate catastrophe’? Pakistan’s savage flooding reignites debate
The ambassador said the hardest hit by climate change are “the most vulnerable and the least developed economically countries on their GDP”.
“Pakistan, of course, is a very sad testament to all of this… We, as an incoming presidency, understand this problem and we see what needs to be done, and that is to implement,” he added.
Last year’s COP26 climate talks in Glasgow launched a “dialogue” on loss and damage, but funding is still almost nowhere to be seen.
Tasneem Essop, executive director of Climate Action Network, said “all eyes are on the Egyptian presidency” to put the needs of people “on the frontlines of the climate crisis are front and centre on the COP agenda”.
That means delivering on climate finance, in particular for adaptation and losses and damages, and progress on phasing out of all fossil fuels, said the leader of CAN, which represents 1,800 global climate groups and participates in United Nations talks.
The Egyptian presidency must ensure “an inclusive and transparent COP- starting with access to affordable accommodation, smooth visa processes and the full and active participation of civil society,” she said, alluding to concerns about restrictions on protests and sky-high hotel prices.
Mr Aboulmagd said Egypt is ensuring cheap youth hostel accommodation was available and accelerating the accreditation process.
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A Russian Su-35 fighter jet was scrambled to intercept two US strategic bombers over the Baltic Sea, Russia’s defence ministry has said.
“Two air targets flying in the direction of the state border of the Russian Federation” were detected by radar on Monday, it said in a statement on the social media platform Telegram.
The aircraft were identified as two US Air Force B-52 strategic bombers “flying in the direction of the Russian Federation’s state border”.
A Su-35 fighter jet took to the air to prevent a border violation, the ministry continued.
“After the foreign military aircraft moved away from the Russian Federation state border, the Russian fighter returned to its base airfield,” it added.
The National Defense Center of the Russian Federation said: “The flight of the Russian fighter was carried out in strict accordance with the international rules for the use of airspace.
“Violations of the state border of the Russian Federation are not allowed.”
The US has not yet responded to the claim.
It comes after the crash of a US military surveillance drone into the Black Sea on 14 March after it was intercepted by Russian jets.
The US Air Force released a video it said showed a Russian jet intercepting the drone and dumping fuel on it over the Black Sea.
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Russian jet vs US drone – what happened?
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It said two Russian Su-27 jets flew close to the MQ-9 Reaper before one hit its propeller and forced remote operators to crash it into the ocean.
The incident highlighted the increasing risk of direct confrontation between the superpowers as fighting continues in nearby Ukraine.
American officials accused the Russian pilots of flying in a “reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner”.
Moscow denied the jets behaved dangerously and said they didn’t come into contact with the drone, claiming it crashed due to “sharp manoeuvring”.
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Donald Trump has claimed he is set to be arrested over an alleged hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
If right in his assertion, the former US president could be charged by authorities in New York within days.
But what will happen if he is indicted – and how will both sides present their case?
What Trump has said
In a post on his Truth Social platform on Saturday, Mr Trump said he expected to be arrested on Tuesday and urged his supporters to protest against the authorities if he is detained and indicted.
He published a long statement describing the investigation as a “political witch-hunt trying to take down the leading candidate, by far, in the Republican Party”.
“I did absolutely nothing wrong,” he said, before criticising a “corrupt, depraved and weaponised justice system”.
However, it’s worth noting a spokesperson for Mr Trump said he had not been notified of any pending arrest.
The case – that the Republican made a payment to Ms Daniels towards the end of the 2016 presidential campaign in exchange for her silence over an alleged affair – is one of several related to Mr Trump.
Other ongoing cases include a Georgia election interference probe and two federal investigations into his role in the 6 January insurrection in the US Capitol.
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Trump watches wrestling after arrest claim
What Trump will do
Mr Trump has accused Manhattan’s district attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, of targeting him for political gain, and may try to argue for the dismissal of the charges on those grounds.
He could also challenge whether the statute of limitations – five years in this instance – should have run out.
But in New York, the statute of limitations can be extended if the defendant has been out of state – Trump may argue that serving as US president should not apply.
Politically, how any possible indictment may affect Mr Trump’s chances in the 2024 presidential election is unclear.
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He could be the first former US president to face criminal prosecution – right as polls show him leading other potential rivals for the Republican nomination, including controversial Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
This could lead to the unprecedented situation in which Mr Trump would stand trial as he campaigns in 2024.
If elected, he would not have the power to pardon himself of criminal charges.
In any case, Mr Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina told CNBC on Friday that he would surrender if charged. If he refused to come voluntarily, prosecutors could seek to have him extradited from Florida, where he currently lives.
In an ironic twist, as governor, Mr DeSantis would typically have to give formal approval for an extradition.
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Trump arrest ‘would be politically motivated’
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Trump pleads the fifth in 2022 deposition video
What prosecutors will do
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has spent nearly five years investigating Mr Trump.
It has presented evidence to a New York grand jury that relates to a £114,000 ($130,000) payment to Ms Daniels during the final days of the 2016 presidential campaign.
It is alleged the payment was given in exchange for Ms Daniels’ silence about an affair between her and Mr Trump.
Mr Trump has denied the affair and accused Ms Daniels of extortion.
Any indictment by the district attorney’s office would require Mr Trump to travel to its New York office to surrender.
But Mr Trump’s lawyers will likely arrange a date and time with authorities, as it is a white-collar case. And then his mugshot and fingerprints would be taken before appearing for arraignment in court.
Mr Trump could also be charged with falsifying business records – typically classed as a misdemeanour – after he reimbursed his former attorney Michael Cohen for the payments, falsely recorded as legal services.
To elevate it to a felony, prosecutors would have to show Mr Trump falsified records to cover up a second crime.
In any case, legal experts have estimated that any trial of the former US president would be more than a year away.
That’s why if it happened, it could coincide with the final months of a 2024 election in which Mr Trump seeks a controversial return to the White House.
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