Participants attend the COP27 climate summit in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt November 8, 2022.Participants attend the COP27 climate summit in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt November 8, 2022.
“It is about time that these companies are made to pay a global carbon tax on their profits as a source of funding for loss and damage,” he said. “While they are profiting, the planet is burning.” Wealthy western countries tend to be the most vocal advocates of slashing emissions but are also the ones that have contributed the most greenhouse gases after more than a century of fossil fuel-driven industrialization.
But some countries at the conference were more likely to direct their frustration at rich governments, not drillers. China’s special climate envoy Xie Zhenhua said on Tuesday that Beijing is committed to reaching carbon neutrality in the world’s top greenhouse gas emitter, and believed multilateralism and cooperation is key to solving global climate change.
Biden will not arrive until Friday – after Tuesday’s midterm elections in the United States – but his delegation opened its pavilion at the COP27 venue on Tuesday and Special Envoy John Kerry was making the rounds.