The person is Madeleine Cuff.
The first week of the climate talks in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, was closed by US president Joe Biden.
He said the climate crisis was about national security, economic security, environmental security, and human security.
In a 3 hour stop on his way to a G20 meeting in Indonesia, Biden said the US is on track to meet its climate targets and called on other nations to come forward with tougher plans to cut emissions.
Every major emitting nation needs to align to the 1.5C target. He said that they can't plead ignorant about the consequences of their actions.
Although Biden was confident that the US would meet its domestic commitments, he acknowledged that it may struggle to fulfill international promises after the mid-term elections.
The pledge to quadruple climate finance by 2024 is one of the key promises made last year. Biden promised to fight for it, even though the House of Representatives would make it next to impossible.
The week has seen little in the way of new financial commitments from world leaders, which could potentially stall progress at the talks.
Joe Biden is speaking at the summit.
Alex Brandon/ Associated Press.
Tom Evans at E3G says that the issue of finance has been a problem from the beginning. The lack of a sense of how countries are delivering on their commitments has been caused by the question of finance.
The arrival of ministers next week has caused negotiations to reach a stalemate. New Scientist understands that talks on doubling adaptation funding and a work programme to accelerate emissions cuts are causing concern.
As talks head into their second week there is an air of uncertainty.
Logistical issues aren't helping the mood. Food and drink were expensive and scarce for the first few days of the summit, while delegates were tired and disorientated due to the venue.
After a number of official complaints by national delegations, the summit's Egyptian hosts slashed food prices and began giving out free soft drinks.
The final political agreement will be the focus over the weekend. There will be discussions on what this year's document should be.
The final text of the Glasgow Climate Pact called for a phase-down of global coal use, doubling of adaptation financing and for countries to return with updated climate plans at COP 27.
There will be a challenge in Sharm El Sheikh. The cover text is important for communicating progress at a summit where key decisions on issues such as "loss and damage" won't be made until next year.
Lobbying is under way for the text to include stronger language on fossil fuels, upgrade the "phase-down" of coal use to a "phase-out" or expand the commitment to include all fossil fuels.
A fresh commitment to cut emissions and hold global warming to 1.5C is seen as key. Jacob Werksman, the European Union's head of delegation, said they would expect a section on mitigation that builds on the signals in the Glasgow Climate Pact.
Next week, ministerial delegations will descend on the conference to iron out details of the technical negotiations.
The newly elected president of Brazil is expected to arrive at the summit in November, raising hopes that he could make new commitments on Amazon destruction.
The US, Japan, and the UK are expected to provide funding for Indonesia to retire coal power plants early next week.
There are more on this topic.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
