In a major move initiated by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, they have decided to establish one of the world’s largest wind farms on the sidelines of the UN’s COP27 climate summit in Sharm El-Sheikh. The UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the Egyptian President Sisi signed the deal, which shall be recognized as a significant milestone towards clean energy, in the backdrop of the climate summit.
The 10-gigawatt (GW) onshore wind project in Egypt will produce 47,790 GW per hour of clean energy annually once it is completed. It will counterbalance 23.8 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions – equivalent to approximately 9% of Egypt’s current CO2 output. The wind farm will also save Egypt an estimated $5 billion in annual natural gas costs and help create as many as 100,000 jobs, it said.
Rich nations should compensate for poor nations plight
The UN’s COP27 climate summit kicked off on Sunday in Egypt with warnings against backsliding on efforts to cut emissions and calls for rich nations to compensate poor countries after a year of extreme weather disasters.
On the first day of COP27, the U.N. climate talks, world leaders urged each other to move faster to cut the pollution that is warming the planet while recognizing the war in Ukraine’s global energy effects and the unequal effects of climate change to date.
Russian invasion of Ukraine has unsettled the global energy market casting a perpetual gloom on the summit
While the relations between the two biggest polluters the US and China has touched a new level, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has cast an ominous gloom on the summit. The conflict has unsettled the global energy market, spurred inflation that has led some to call for more oil and gas drilling. Meanwhile, poor countries are suffering the worst from climate effects with wealthy country’s emissions are more culpable for the global warming.
The United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, while addressing the gathering of more than 100 Princes, Presidents, and Prime Ministers on the opening day of the summit said “We are on a highway to a climate hell and our foot is on the accelerator”.
He further stressed that the climate change was not a separate issue that could be deferred, but is linked with the crises of war, unrest and hunger. “It is the central challenge of our century,” he said. “It is unacceptable, outrageous and self-defeating to put it on the back burner. Indeed, many of today’s conflicts are linked with growing climate chaos.”
One of the seven women leaders representing their respective countries, Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, gave an impassioned call for reform of the International Banking System, and claimed it trapped formerly colonized countries into deepening debt, as they try to cope with climate hazards.
An 18-year-old climate activist from Uganda, Leah Namugerwa told the dignitaries in a very impassioned note, most of whom were double her age and even older, to move faster. “Politicians, when you stand up to talk, my generation asks that you speak like we are in an emergency,”
Prince Bin Zayed of the United Arab Emirates said emphatically that his country would continue to produce gas so long as there was a market for it. He called his country a “responsible” gas producer.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain, who reversed his earlier decision to skip the summit, told delegates that the Russian invasion of Ukraine should prompt developed countries to invest more heavily in renewable energy.
“Putin’s abhorrent war in Ukraine, and rising energy prices across the world are not a reason to go slow on climate change,” Sunak further urged the world “They are a reason to act faster.”
Some of the strongest pleas for action came so far from leaders of poorer nations that have little or no contribution towards adding woes to the growing pollution but more often have to bear the brunt of climatic catastrophe.
African leaders called for climate justice for poor and vulnerable nations.
“Africa should not pay for crimes they have not committed,” Central African Republic President Faustin Archange Touadera said, adding that rich nations were to blame for the climate problem.
Nigeria’s Environment Minister Mohammed Abdullahi appealed to the wealthy nations to show “positive and affirmative” commitments to help countries hardest hit by climate disasters. He further added that the priority should be aggressive when it comes to climate funding to mitigate the challenges of loss and damage.
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Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan claimed that their part of the world has to choose between life and death.
A positive gesture of goodwill and sincere concern was conveyed by French Prime Minister Emanuel Macron who supported the poorer nation’s issue as one of “justice and fairness’.
What crucial role should India play while emerging as a leader in spearheading the climate movement?
- India will stress upon the issue of climate financing with absolute clarity in its definition and spirit.
- India will accentuate upon strengthening the financial mechanisms of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that is crucial to meet the climate finance delivery goals.
- Proactive domestic actions with multilateral collaboration for mitigation of the crises.
- Climate funding in the long term in concurrence with climate change while restraining fossil fuel emissions will be high on India’s agenda.
- India will strongly thrust for the $100 billion-a-year pledge of climate funds for developing countries, a promise made in 2009 that hasn’t yet been fulfilled despite it being two years past its deadline.
No other country will see a bigger increase in energy demand than India in the coming years, and it is estimated that the nation will need $223 billion to meet its clean energy targets by 2030. Currently, 42% of the country’s installed electricity capacity is from non-fossil fuel sources. So a very dynamic and decisive role is required to be played by India. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spearheaded India’s representation since 2017, the world looks towards India for playing a critical role in aligning the worst polluters and putting them on course of unprejudiced and effective actions for mitigating the worst crises.
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