US President Joe Biden is visiting the conference boosted by better-than-expected results in the US mid-term elections earlier this week and is due to speak this afternoon. The full UN program can be found here, and we’ll bring you the most interesting and important developments as the day unfolds. On Thursday there was anger at the number of fossil fuel lobbyists attending the conference, demonstrators wearing white in solidarity with environmentalists and political prisoners and Achim Steiner, head of the UN development programme, warning that more than 50 developing countries they risk bankruptcy without help from the rich world. Find out about the day’s events here. I’m Oliver Holmes and you can send me tips, comments, questions and complaints to [email protected] or on Twitter @olireports. Updated at 10.04 GMT Important events Show only key events Please enable JavaScript to use this feature
Gas producers use Cop27 to brand gas as transition fuel, experts warn
Ruth Michaelson Natural gas producers and their financial backers see Cop27 as an opportunity for discussions on rebranding natural gas as a transition fuel rather than a fossil fuel, experts said. The push comes from Egypt and its gas-producing allies amid a global energy crisis exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “The opportunity for this cop is to openly discuss that natural gas, and particularly when combined with carbon capture, is a scalable energy solution that allows us to meet the needs of 8 billion people while meeting our climate goals,” Craig stated. Golinowsky, of Carbon Infrastructure Partners, a Canadian private equity fund that supports projects related to fossil fuels as well as carbon sequestration. Environmental experts warn that burning gas, a fossil fuel, risks increasing warming well beyond the 1.5C limit needed to avoid major environmental disruptions. Gas is less climate-polluting than coal, but its production involves harmful methane, and leaks from infrastructure can cause large-scale pollution. Nina Lachani The Guardian reported on protests at Cop27, where activists called on Egyptian authorities to release thousands of political prisoners. One who has highlighted the regime’s crackdown on its own citizens is Italian citizen Giorgio Caracciolo, director of Dignity, an anti-torture advocacy group, in the Middle East and North Africa. On Wednesday, Caracciolos was denied entry to Cairo airport despite having the correct immigration documents and police officer accreditation. Authorities did not provide reasons for his deportation. Caracciolo tweeted: “Personally, I wonder why I… Is it because the organization I represent [focuses] to the most familiar tools used by the regime, namely torture and violence?’ (1/7) It’s 2.30am. at #Cairo airport and was just informed by an Egyptian officer that I am not welcome in the country and will not be allowed to enter. #COP27 is underway, the Egyptian regime opened its doors to the world but kept some closed. #FreeAlaa — Giorgio Caracciolo (@GioCaracciolo) November 10, 2022 Human Rights Watch and other organizations condemned the decision. “Beyond the immediate impact on Caracciolo, who is now barred from attending Cop27 and addressing the human rights situation in Egypt, these tactics create an environment of fear for all activists who speak out about human rights in Cop27”. Ruth Michaelson In case anyone was thinking of protesting Egypt’s deep economic crisis today in the capital Cairo and elsewhere, singer Sayed Emam is here with an optimistic reminder not to bother taking to the streets. The song, titled “We Won’t Go Down,” thoughtfully accompanied by an image of a pro-government protest on YouTube, is designed to encourage Egyptians to stay in their homes. “We will not go down” To add to the irony, it’s set to a backing tune reminiscent of mahraganat, a form of popular music associated with Egyptian streets and weddings designed to get you up and dancing – or maybe even protesting. Maraghanat singers have also been effectively banned from performing in Egypt after the head of the country’s Musicians’ Union issued a decree two years ago banning them from performing at festivals, clubs, cafes, concerts or other public venues. There have been calls for citizens to protest the deepening cost of living crisis in Egypt today on social media. In response, the country’s security forces have preemptively arrested more than 150 people in recent weeks, according to Amnesty International. A Dutch artist is spending 11 days of Cop27 turning a 3,068-page report on the horrors that await humanity into confetti in a bid to show how we refuse to take climate science seriously. Johannes-Harm Hovinga’s impressive performance – entitled ‘There’s an elephant in the room’ – has him sitting in a chair with a drill for 10 hours a day. 3068 pages of the IPCC’s sixth assessment report turning it into confetti as an example of a lack of sense of necessity. Photo: Johannes-Harm Hovinga “People are invited to participate silently or talk about the climate … while they punch it paper by paper knowing the meaning of the words on paper they destroy,” Hovinga said. The latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s leading authority on climate science, was its strongest warning yet of significant, inevitable and irreversible climate warming. Allow Instagram content? This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is uploaded, as it may use cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click Allow and Continue. Hovinga said the show shows a “lack of sense of urgency” when it comes to the climate crisis.
What to expect today
Patrick Greenfield Here’s what to look out for on Decarbonisation Day:
Joe Biden’s speech will take place at 17:15 local time (15:15 GMT). He moved to rejoin the Paris accord within hours of taking office in January 2020 and has since approved a $369 billion climate investment package that could cut US greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent. US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and several US lawmakers will hold a press conference later this afternoon. Although it is decarbonisation day, at least two fossil fuel CEOs are scheduled to speak at Cop27 on Friday. It comes after an analysis of delegates found there was an “explosion” in fossil fuel lobbyists attending this year’s climate summit, with 636 attending, an increase of more than 25% on Cop26 in Glasgow. More protests are taking place on the Cop27 website on Friday, including those highlighting the case of hunger striker Alaa Abd el-Fattah.
Nina Lachani As Cop27 awaits the arrival of Joe Biden, who is feeling very pleased with himself after the Democrats were not wiped out in the midterm elections as predicted, climate justice activists will not congratulate the US president, but criticize him for climate failures. “President Biden should declare a climate emergency. People are sick, dying because profits are valued more than our lives,” said Sharon Lavigne, the 2021 Goldman Prize winner from Louisiana, who led a successful grassroots campaign to stop the construction of a toxic plastics plant in “ cancer alley’ of America. . “We put him in office. He must listen to the front line leaders. President Biden, please join me today at Cop27. listen to us.” Protester Sharon Lavigne (centre) at Cop27 Photo: Nina Lakhani/The Guardian The first demonstration this morning called on world leaders to declare a climate emergency, keep fossil fuels in the ground and pay reparations for the irreversible loss and damage already suffered – mostly by communities and countries least responsible for global warming. Millions of people are still suffering in Pakistan after unprecedented rainfall and floods left a third of the country under water earlier this year. “We are paying for the crimes of corporations and the global north, which have made Pakistan a hub for climate disasters,” said one protester, Farooq Tariq. “We don’t want other words, we want debt suspension, we want reparations, we want climate justice.” A protest at Cop27 Photo: Nina Lakhani/The Guardian Updated at 09.13 GMT
Joe Biden will speak at Cop27
Good morning and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the Cop27 climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where the theme of the day is decarbonisation. US President Joe Biden is visiting the conference boosted by better-than-expected results in the US mid-term elections earlier this week and is due to speak this afternoon. The full UN program can be found here, and we’ll bring you the most interesting and important developments as the day unfolds. On Thursday there was anger at the number of fossil fuel lobbyists attending the conference, demonstrators wearing white in solidarity with environmentalists and political prisoners and Achim Steiner, head of the UN development programme, warning that more than 50 developing countries they risk bankruptcy without help from the rich world. Find out about the day’s events here. I’m Oliver Holmes and you can send me tips, comments, questions and complaints to [email protected] or on Twitter @olireports. Updated at 10.04 GMT
