United News of Bangladesh

For the first time, the nations of the world decided to help pay for the damage an overheating world is inflicting on poor countries, but they finished marathon climate talks on Sunday without further addressing the root cause of those disasters — the burning of fossil fuels. The deal, gaveled around dawn in this Egyptian Red Sea resort city, established a fund for what negotiators call loss and damage. It was a big win for poorer nations which have long called for money — sometimes viewed as reparations — because they are often the victims of climate-worsened floods, droughts, heat waves, famines and storms despite having contributed little to the pollution that heats up the globe. It has also long been called an issue of equity for nations hit by weather extremes and small island states that face an existential threat from rising seas. “Three long decades and we have finally delivered climate justice,” said Seve Paeniu, the finance minister of Tuvalu. “We have finally responded to the call of hundreds of millions of people across the world to help them address loss and damage.” Read more: COP27: Despite lack of progress at climate talks, veteran activists nurture hope  Pakistan’s environment minister, Sherry Rehman, said the establishment of the fund “is not about dispensing charity.” “It is clearly a down payment on the longer investment in our joint futures,” she said, speaking for a coalition of the world’s poorest nations. Antigua and Barbuda’s Molwyn Joseph, who chairs the organization of small island states, described the agreement as a “win for our entire world.” “We have shown those who have felt neglected that we hear you, we see you, and we are giving you the respect and care you deserve,” he said. The deal followed a game of chicken, with nations that supported the fund also signaling they would walk away if there was any backsliding on language on the need to slash greenhouse gas emissions. Early Sunday morning, delegates approved the compensation fund but had not dealt with the contentious issues of an overall temperature goal, emissions cutting and the desire to target all fossil fuels for phase down. Through the wee hours of the night, the European Union and other nations fought back what they considered backsliding in the Egyptian presidency’s overarching cover agreement and threatened to scuttle the rest of the process. Read more: CSOs express dissatisfaction on the outcome of COP27 The package was revised again, removing most of the elements Europeans had objected to but adding none of the heightened ambition they were hoping for. “What we have in front of us is not enough of a step forward for people and planet,” a disappointed Frans Timmermans, executive vice president of the European Union, told his fellow negotiators. “It does not bring enough added efforts from major emitters to increase and accelerate their emissions cuts. “We have all fallen short in actions to avoid and minimize loss and damage,” Timmermans said. “We should have done much more.” Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock likewise voiced frustration. “It is more than frustrating to see overdue steps on mitigation and the phase-out of fossil energies being stonewalled by a number of large emitters and oil producers,” she said. The agreement includes a veiled reference to the benefits of natural gas as low emission energy, despite many nations calling for a phase down of natural gas, which does contribute to climate change. While the new agreement doesn’t ratchet up calls for reducing emissions, it does retain language to keep alive the global goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). The Egyptian presidency kept offering proposals that harkened back to 2015 Paris language which also mentioned a looser goal of 2 degrees. The world has already warmed 1.1 degrees (2 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times. Read more: COP27: Rich countries couldn’t agree yet on loss and damage funding for vulnerable nations Nor did the final deal expand on last year’s call to phase down global use of “unabated coal” even though India and other countries pushed to include oil and natural gas in language from Glasgow. That too was the subject of last minute debate, especially upsetting Europeans. Last year’s climate talks president chided the summit leadership for knocking down his efforts to do more to cut emissions with a forceful listing of what was not done. “We joined with many parties to propose a number of measures that would have contributed to this emissions peaking before 2025, as the science tells us is necessary. Not in this text,” the United Kingdom’s Alok Sharma said emphasizing the last part. “Clear follow through on the phase down of coal. Not in this text. A clear commitment to phase out all fossil fuels. Not in this text. And the energy text weakened in the final minutes.” And in his remarks to negotiators, U.N. climate chief Simon Stiell, who hails from Grenada, called on the world “to move away from fossil fuels, including coal oil and gas.” However, that fight was overshadowed by the historic compensation fund. “Quite a few positives to celebrate amidst the gloom and doom” of not cutting emissions fast enough to limit warming to 1.5 degrees, said climate scientist Maarten van Aalst of the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Center, which responds to climate disasters. It’s a reflection of what can be done when the poorest nations remain unified, said Alex Scott, a climate diplomacy expert at the think tank E3G. “I think this is huge to have governments coming together to actually work out at least the first step of ... how to deal with the issue of loss and damage,” Scott said. But like all climate financials, it is one thing to create a fund, it’s another to get money flowing in and out, she said. The developed world still has not kept its 2009 pledge to spend $100 billion a year in other climate aid — designed to help poor nations develop green energy and adapt to future warming. Next year’s talks will also see further negotiations to work out details of the new loss and damage fund, as well as review the world’s efforts to meet the goals of the Paris accord, which scientists say are slipping out of reach. According to the agreement, the fund would initially draw on contributions from developed countries and other private and public sources such as international financial institutions. While major emerging economies such as China wouldn’t automatically have to contribute, that option remains on the table. This is a key demand by the European Union and the United States, who argue that China and other large polluters currently classified as developing countries have the financial clout and responsibility to pay their way. The fund would be largely aimed at the most vulnerable nations, though there would be room for middle-income countries that are severely battered by climate disasters to get aid. Martin Kaiser, the head of Greenpeace Germany, described the agreement on a loss and damage as a “small plaster on a huge, gaping wound.” “It’s a scandal that the Egyptian COP presidency gave petrostates such as Saudi Arabia space to torpedo effective climate protection,” he said. Many climate campaigners are concerned that pushing for strong action to end fossil fuel use will be even harder at next year’s meeting, which will be hosted in Dubai, located in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates.

Redbridge Council – the local authority for Redbridge in greater London, England – on Friday launched the Women's Safety Mission Statement at Full Council to ensure that public spaces feel safer and are safer for women and girls in Redbridge. The council, police and partners share a mission to work together with local people, businesses, workplaces and institutions. The leader of Redbridge Council Councillor Jas Athwal was joined by Women's Champion Councillor Saima Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Crime Safety and Community Cohesion Councillor Khayer Chowdhury, Chief Executive Claire Symonds, Women's Network Senior Sponsor Pervinder Sandhu and Superintendent Lisa Butterfield to officially launch the statement. The listening exercises consisted of surveys, focus groups, safety walks and workshops and the findings shared formed the basis for the Women's Safety Mission Statement. The council was able to hear from over 2,500 individuals about the issue of safety for women and girls in the borough. In 2021, it also set up the Community Crime Commission to tackle crime and the fear of crime. The commission, an independent body made up of 16 commissioners, mainly residents, investigated five of the borough's crime priorities, one of which was women and girls' safety. Read more: Sexual harassment, misconduct went on unchecked at Al Jazeera, staff allege: BBC investigation Jas Athwal said: "Everyone has a right to feel safe going about their daily life, free from harassment and abuse. Our engagement with local women and girls has shone a light on their experiences and shown that this is not always the case in Redbridge." "We're continuing to work closely with the police, partners and local people to highlight the experiences of women and girls and take action to make our borough safer for everyone." Saima Ahmed said: "As a local resident and champion of women's safety, I am committed to improving the safety of all women and girls in Redbridge." "I understand that talking about experiences of sexual harassment and violence can be difficult, and I would like to take the opportunity to recognise and say a personal thank you to everyone that has shared their experiences with us." Read more: RMG workers stage demo in Dhaka protesting sexual abuse    

A LATAM Airlines plane taking off from Lima’s international airport struck a firetruck on the runway and caught fire Friday. Authorities said the plane’s passengers and crew were all safe, but two firefighters in the truck were killed. Lima Airport Partners, the company that operates Jorge Chávez International Airport, said in a tweet that operations at the facility had been suspended. There were 102 passengers and six crew members aboard the Airbus A320neo. “Our teams are providing the necessary care to all passengers, who are in good condition,” the company said. Luis Ponce La Jara, general commander of the fire department, said two firefighters were killed and one was injured when the truck they were in was struck by the plane. Both the plane and the firetruck were in motion when they collided. President Pedro Castillo expressed his condolences to the families of the firefighters in a tweet. Flight LA2213 was taking off from Lima’s main airport en route to the Peruvian city of Juliaca. Videos on social media showed smoke coming from a large plane on the runway. Read more: Small plane crashes into Tanzania's Lake Victoria, 19 dead LATAM Airlines said it lamented the death of the firefighters and would provide flexibility to reprogram flights to affected passengers at no extra cost. But it said it did not know why the firetruck was on the runway. “No emergency was reported on the flight It was a flight that was in optimal conditions to take off, it had authorization to take off and it encountered a truck on the runway and we don’t know what the truck was doing there,” said Manuel van Oordt, general manager of LATAM Airlines Peru. “We have to investigate and establish why it was there.” The Prosecutor’s Office in Callao, where the airport is located, said an investigation into the cause of the accident had been opened. According to the fire department, the incident was registered at 3:25 p.m. and four rescue units were mobilized. Read more: Plane crash kills 2, burns homes in California neighborhood Aviation authorities said operations at Jorge Chávez International Airport were suspended until 1 p.m. local time Saturday. Flights would be direct to other airports in the meantime.

Negotiators say they have struck a potential breakthrough deal on the thorniest issue of United Nations climate talks in Egypt: the creation of a fund for compensating poor nations that are victims of extreme weather worsened by rich countries’ carbon pollution. Several cabinet ministers from across the globe told The Associated Press that agreement was reached on a fund for what negotiators call loss and damage. It’s a big win for poorer nations which have long called for cash — sometimes viewed as reparations — because they are often the victims of climate disasters despite having contributed little to the pollution that heats up the globe. “This is how a 30-year-old journey of ours has finally, we hope, found fruition today,” said Pakistan Climate Minister Sherry Rehman, who often took the lead for the world’s poorest nations. One-third of her nation was submerged this summer by a devastating flood and she and other officials used the motto: “What went on in Pakistan will not stay in Pakistan.” If an agreement is accepted it still needs to be approved in a unanimous decision later Saturday. But other parts of a deal, outlined in a package of proposals put out earlier in the day by the Egyptian chairs of the talks, are still being hammered out as negotiators head into what they hope is their final session. There was strong concern among both developed and developing countries about proposals on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, known as mitigation. Officials said the language put forward by Egypt backtracked on some of the commitments made in Glasgow aimed at keeping alive the target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times. The world has already warmed 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) since the mid 19th century. Some of the Egyptian language on mitigation seemingly reverted to the 2015 Paris agreement, which was before scientists knew how crucial the 1.5 degree threshold was and heavily mentioned a weaker 2-degree Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) goal, which is why scientists and Europeans are afraid of backtracking, said climate scientist Maarten van Aalst of the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre. Ireland’s Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan said: “We need to get a deal on 1.5 degrees. We need strong wording on mitigation and that’s what we’re going to push.” Still, the attention centered around the compensation fund, which has also been called a justice issue. Read more: COP27: Bangladesh among first recipients of Global Shield financial support “There is an agreement on loss and damage,” Maldives Environment Minister Aminath Shauna told the AP early Saturday afternoon after a meeting with other delegations. “That means for countries like ours we will have the mosaic of solutions that we have been advocating for.” New Zealand Climate Minister James Shaw said both the poor countries that would get the money and the rich ones that would give it are on board with the proposed deal. It's a reflection of what can be done when the poorest nations remain unified, said Alex Scott, a climate diplomacy expert at the think tank E3G. “I think this is huge to have governments coming together to actually work out at least the first step of ... how to deal with the issue of loss and damage," Scott said. But like all climate financials, it is one thing to create a fund, it's another to get money flowing in and out, she said. The developed world still has not kept its 2009 pledge to spend $100 billion a year in other climate aid — designed to help poor nations develop green energy and adapt to future warming. “The draft decision on loss and damage finance offers hope to the vulnerable people that they will get help to recover from climate disasters and rebuild their lives," said Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International. The Chinese lead negotiator would not comment on a possible deal. The U.S. negotiations office, where special envoy John Kerry is sick with COVID-19, also declined to comment. China and the U.S. are the two biggest carbon polluters. European negotiators said they were ready to back the deal but declined to say so publicly until the entire package was approved. The Egyptian presidency, which had been under criticism by all sides, proposed a new loss and damage deal Saturday afternoon and within a couple hours an agreement was struck but Norway's climate and environment minister Espen Barth Eide said it was not so much the Egyptians but countries working together. According to the latest draft, the fund would initially draw on contributions from developed countries and other private and public sources such as international financial institutions. While major emerging economies such as China would not initially be required to contribute, that option remains on the table and will be negotiated over the coming years. This is a key demand by the European Union and the United States, who argue that China and other large polluters currently classified as developing countries have the financial clout and responsibility to pay their way. The planned fund would be largely aimed at the most vulnerable nations, though there would be room for middle-income countries that are severely battered by climate disasters to get aid. An overarching decision that sums up the outcomes of the climate talks doesn't include India’s call to phase down oil and natural gas, in addition to last year’s agreement to wean the world from “unabated” coal. Read more: COP27: Bangladesh to reiterate call to materialize $100bn pledged for developing countries Several rich and developing nations called Saturday for a last-minute push to step up emissions cuts, warning that the outcome barely builds on what was agreed in Glasgow last year. It also doesn’t require developing countries such as China and India to submit any new targets before 2030. Experts say these are needed to achieve the more ambitious 1.5 degrees Celsius goal that would prevent some of the more extreme effects of climate change. Throughout the climate summit, the American, Chinese, Indian and Saudi Arabian delegations have kept a low public profile, while European, African, Pakistan and small island nations have been more vocal. Many of the more than 40,000 attendees have left town, and workers started packing up the vast pavilions in the sprawling conference zone. U.N. climate meetings have evolved over the years to resemble trade fairs, with many countries and industry groups setting up booths and displays for meetings and panel discussions. At many stands, chairs were stacked neatly ready for removal, and monitors had been taken away, leaving cables dangling from walls. Pamphlets and booklets were strewn across tables and floors. Snack bars, which the Egyptian organizers said would remain open through the weekend, were emptied out. At the youth pavilion, a gathering spot for young activists, a pile of handwritten postcards from children to negotiators was left on a table. “Dear COP27 negotiators,” read one card. “Keep fighting for a good planet.”  

A LATAM Airlines plane taking off from Lima’s international airport struck a firetruck on the runway and caught fire Friday. Authorities said the plane’s passengers and crew were all safe, but two firefighters in the truck were killed. Lima Airport Partners, the company that operates Jorge Chávez International Airport, said in a tweet that operations at the facility had been suspended. There were 102 passengers and six crew members aboard the Airbus A320neo. Read: Myanmar releasing 4 foreigners in broad prisoner amnesty “Our teams are providing the necessary care to all passengers, who are in good condition,” the company said. Luis Ponce La Jara, general commander of the fire department, said two firefighters were killed and one was injured when the truck they were in was struck by the plane. Both the plane and the firetruck were in motion when they collided. President Pedro Castillo expressed his condolences to the families of the firefighters in a tweet. Flight LA2213 was taking off from Lima’s main airport en route to the Peruvian city of Juliaca. Videos on social media showed smoke coming from a large plane on the runway. LATAM Airlines said it lamented the death of the firefighters and would provide flexibility to reprogram flights to affected passengers at no extra cost. But it said it did not know why the firetruck was on the runway. Read: Small plane crashes into Tanzania's Lake Victoria, 19 dead “No emergency was reported on the flight It was a flight that was in optimal conditions to take off, it had authorization to take off and it encountered a truck on the runway and we don’t know what the truck was doing there,” said Manuel van Oordt, general manager of LATAM Airlines Peru. “We have to investigate and establish why it was there.” The Prosecutor’s Office in Callao, where the airport is located, said an investigation into the cause of the accident had been opened. According to the fire department, the incident was registered at 3:25 p.m. and four rescue units were mobilized. Aviation authorities said operations at Jorge Chávez International Airport were suspended until 1 p.m. local time Saturday. Flights would be direct to other airports in the meantime.

It’s a desert, where little grows. It’s a climate conference, where water is scarce inside buildings and out, lines are long, tempers are short, meetings go late and above all progress comes in one-drop drips. Yet hope springs forth in the strangest places. Not in the naïve new face, but in the hearts and minds of veteran activists and officials, who have gone through this frustrating sleep-depriving exercise, not once or twice but numerous times. And it blooms in a odd metal “tree” sculpture in a center square here at the United Nations climate summit in Egypt. People write their hopes on green paper leaves. “Hope is the only meaning (sic) that makes us ALIVE!” Mohamed Ageez, an Egyptian youth activist wrote. Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore looks at more than 30 years of climate change efforts and sees hope in progress and change. United Nations Environment Programme Director Inger Andersen and The Nature Conservancy Chief Scientist Katharine Hayhoe see it in all the people in the halls working hard. Read: COP27: Rich countries couldn’t agree yet on loss and damage funding for vulnerable nations And Christiana Figueres, the former U.N. climate secretary who helped forge the 2015 Paris agreement and then started a non-profit called Climate Optimism, sees hope not as a noun but an action verb. “Hope is a verb with its sleeves rolled up,” Figueres told The Associated Press, quoting poet David Orr. “I think of hope and optimism as being very active and in fact being precisely the reason why we roll up our sleeves.” Asked how he doesn’t despair after seeing heat-trapping emissions rising year after, Gore told the AP: “Despair is a big word. You know, they used to say denial ain’t just a river in Egypt. Here we are in Egypt and despair ain’t just a tire in the trunk. It’s a real factor. But we also have the basis for hope.” He pointed to several political wins this year. “In August, the U.S. passed the biggest climate legislation in history,” Gore said. “In September, the people of Australia made a historic change and agreed to become part of the leadership in the world toward renewable energy. And then in October, just days ago, the people of Brazil made a decision to stop destroying the Amazon and start fighting the climate crisis.” “When people feel vulnerable to climate despair, I urge them to look at the real progress that is being made.” Read: CSOs express dissatisfaction on the outcome of COP27 Whenever United Nations environment chief Andersen feels down in these meetings she takes note of what’s happening all around her in the pavilions and offices: “In these halls, you will see people huddling over solutions over networking, saying ‘Here’s what we did. Maybe you can do that’.” Climate scientist Hayhoe finds hope in the same place. “So when people say it was a complete failure and there’s no hope, I say, just look around at every single face here,” Hayhoe said. “There are tens of thousands of faces here, and every single one of them just about wants to change the world.” That tree of hope? Gone. It’s been moved away from negotiations to the “green zone,” far away from negotiators.  

Hip hop star Nicki Minaj has teamed up with Colombian singer-songwriter Maluma and Lebanese singer Myriam Fares for the latest addition to the official soundtrack of the World Cup in Qatar. The single “Tukoh Taka,” with lyrics in English, Spanish and Arabic, was released on Friday, two days ahead of the start of the tournament. It’s the latest in a series of songs by artists from around the world released as part of FIFA’s official soundtrack of the 2022 World Cup. Also read: Portugal Squad Analysis for 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar Maluma and Myriam Fares will perform at the opening of the FIFA fan festival in Doha on Saturday.  

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the test of a newly developed intercontinental ballistic missile confirmed that his country has another “reliable and maximum-capacity” weapon to contain outside threats, as he warned the United States and its allies that their alleged provocative steps would lead to “their self-destruction,” state media reported Saturday. North Korea’s state media said Kim oversaw the launch of the Hwasong-17 missile, a day after its neighbors said they had detected the launch of an ICBM that showed a potential ability to reach anywhere in the United States. The North’s Korean Central News Agency said Kim observed the launch with his wife Ri Sol Ju and their “beloved daughter” as well as senior officials. State media photos showed Kim walking hand-in-hand with his daughter clad in a white jacket and a pair of red shoes, and watching together a huge missile loaded on a launch truck. It’s the first time for North Korea to publish the photo of Kim’s daughter. Observers say Kim observing a weapons launch with his family suggests that he was confident in its success. Kim, 38, is the third generation of his family to rule North Korea. South Korean media reported he has three children born in 2010, 2013 and 2017 respectively. It wasn’t immediately known which child he took to the launch site. Much of Kim’s private life is still unknown, but in 2013, after a trip to Pyongyang, retired NBA star Dennis Rodman told the British newspaper the Guardian that he and Kim had a “relaxing time by the sea” with the leader’s family and that he held Kim’s baby daughter, named Ju Ae. Also read: North Korea continues its bombardment of missiles with a potential ICBM Friday’s launch was part of the North’s ongoing barrage of missile tests that are seen as an attempt to expand its weapons arsenal and boost its leverage in future diplomacy. Some foreign experts said the Hwasong-17 missile is still under development but is the North’s longest-range ballistic weapon designed to carry multiple nuclear warheads to defeat U.S. missile defense systems. KCNA said the missile fired from the Pyongyang International Airport traveled up to a maximum altitude of about 6,040 kilometers (3,750 miles) and flew a distance of about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) before it landed on the preset area in international waters off the country’s east coast. “The test-fire clearly proved the reliability of the new major strategic weapon system to be representative of (North Korea’s) strategic forces and its powerful combat performance as the strongest strategic weapon in the world,” KCNA said. Kim said his country is compelled to further bolster its “overwhelming nuclear deterrence” because U.S.-led military threats have been getting more transparent. Kim stressed the need to have the U.S. and its allies realize that their military steps against North Korea would “lead to their self-destruction,” KCNA said. “Kim Jong Un solemnly declared that if the enemies continue to pose threats to the DPRK, frequently introducing nuclear strike means, our Party and government will resolutely react to nukes with nuclear weapons and to total confrontation with all-out confrontation,” KCNA said. Kim’s statement suggests North Korea will continue its weapons testing activities as the United States is pushing to bolster its security commitment to its allies South Korea and Japan. North Korea’s weapons testing spree this year was possible partly because China and Russia have opposed the United States and its allies’ moves to adopt fresh United Nations sanctions on North Korea. There are concerns that North Korea could soon conduct its first nuclear test in five years. U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson condemned Friday’s launch and said the United States will take “all necessary measures” to guarantee the safety of its territory and South Korea and Japan. Vice President Kamala Harris separately met with the leaders of those countries and of Australia, Canada and New Zealand who are attending a regional forum in Bangkok to discuss a joint response to North Korea. South Korea and Japan also criticized the launch and held separate aerial drills with U.S. forces. South Korea’s military said it also staged unilateral exercises simulating aerial strikes on North Korean mobile missile launchers at a firing range near its land border with North Korea. Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said Friday that depending on the weight of a potential warhead, the missile had a range exceeding 15,000 kilometers (9,320 miles), “in which case it could cover the entire mainland United States.” The North’s nuclear and missile arsenals are shrouded in secrecy. Some experts say North Korea is still years away from possessing a functioning nuclear missile, saying it has yet to prove technologies to ensure that warheads survive the harsh conditions of atmospheric reentry. But others say North Korea has likely already acquired such capacities given the number of years spent on its nuclear program. In recent months, North Korea has performed dozens of shorter-range missile tests that it called simulations of nuclear attacks on South Korean and U.S. targets. North Korea said its tests were aimed at issuing a warning to the United States and South Korea over their military training that the North views as an invasion rehearsal. North Korea halted weapons launches for about a week before it fired a short-range ballistic missile on Thursday. Before that launch, North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui threatened to launch “fiercer” military responses to steps by the U.S. to bolster its security commitment to South Korea and Japan. Choe was referring to U.S. President Joe Biden’s recent meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts on the sidelines of a regional gathering in Cambodia. In their joint statement, the three leaders strongly condemned North Korea’s recent missile tests and agreed to work together to strengthen deterrence. Biden reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to defend South Korea and Japan with a full range of capabilities, including nuclear weapons. Read more: N. Korea's Kim vows to develop more powerful means of attack

Global climate talks approached crunch time on Friday, the final scheduled day of negotiations that are expected to go past their deadline as chances of a deal still looked unclear. The UN Secretary-General António Guterres flew to Sharm El-Sheikh on Friday after attending the G-20 meeting. Addressing the ministers engaged in the final negotiations, the UN chief said that the difference between North and South is very clear. This division has become whetted between developed and rapidly developing countries. But now it's time to stop the blame game, the UN chief added. He called on all countries to act on three urgent issues -- loss and damage to restore lost hope and to reach an acceptable agreement with developed countries on financing. In this context, he said, the time to talk about loss and damage is over. Now it's time to work. "We are witnessing the horror of loss and damage all over the world. There is no way to deny it. So a decision on this issue must be taken here at the last meeting." Injustice cannot continue to countries that are emitting less carbon and struggling to survive, he said. Now is the time to show compassion to them. In climate negotiations, loss and damage refers to the idea that rich nations, which have historically done the most to contribute to climate change, should compensate the developing countries most impacted. Read more: COP27: Bangladesh wants developed countries to deliver on $100 billion promise Limiting global warming to 1.5C is not just a goal, it is the key to saving the people of the world. Therefore, the 27th Climate Conference decision must confirm the commitment in this matter as proof of political will. We want the Climate Solidarity Act. This allows developed countries to take the lead in reducing carbon emissions. International financial institutions must accelerate the financing of renewable energy. This is essential to achieve the 1.5-degree target. The UN Secretary-General also said that countries need to be more proactive in the question of financing. Developing countries must provide $100 billion annually and an acceptable roadmap is needed to scale up adaptation financing. Saber Hossain Chowdhury Mp, a member of the Bangladesh delegation and president of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment, Forestry and Climate Change, told UNB that although progress has been made on many issues, progress is still lagging behind on complex issues such as reducing carbon emissions, loss and damage and finance. He said the most surprising thing is that the results of the speeches given by high-level world leaders on November 7 and 8 are not beingreflected even in the final meeting at the ministerial level. He also said that the United Nations and the host country are seeking reflection of that moral goodwill in the last meeting of the ministerial level to bring out effective and fruitful decisions from the conference. In this regard, the president of the 27th climate conference, the foreign minister of Egypt is talking separately with the ministers of developed and developing countries. They are discussing to reach an agreement on complex issues. But not a single positive reflection of this discussion can be seen in the ministerial level meeting. The discussion on the mitigation work program to reduce carbon emissions to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030 has not reached the desired level. The adaptation issue is caught in the process of nowhere. No consensus has been reached so far on financing. The ministers are reluctant to take a political decision on loss and damage, he added. He said that the issue of assistance to the countries affected by climate change has been put on the agenda of this climate conference by the host country Egypt for the first time. It came to the agenda for the first time mainly due to the pressure of African countries. Now the entire LDC countries are speaking on this issue. But developed countries are opposing it, he added. Read more: “We had enough of your promises and we need these words to be put into action now”  

Climate talks appeared stalled late night Thursday on major issues going into the final day, but possibilities for a deal were buoyed by an unexpected proposal by the European Union on two of the thorniest issues, tying compensation for climate disasters to tougher emissions cuts. Minutes after the United Nations summit's chairman warned delegates that “we are not where we need to be in order to close this conference with tangible and robust outcomes," the EU's top climate official made a surprise offer. To applause, he proposed a two-pronged approach that would create a pot of money for poor countries and push for steeper cuts of heat-trapping emissions by all countries, as well as the phasing down of all fossil fuels, including natural gas and oil. The issues of compensation and pollution-cutting “are two sides of the same coin as far as the European Union is concerned," said European Union Executive Vice President Frans Timmermans, making clear that the 27-nation bloc won't offer more money unless there are concessions on emissions targets. “If we do not perform enough on mitigation, there is no money on Earth enough to address the consequences of the climate crisis," Timmermans told The Associated Press. “The amounts of losses and damages will be such that we could never repair them.” “So we absolutely need high ambition on mitigation if we want to have a fighting chance also to help the most vulnerable and face these challenges,” he added. Vulnerable nations called for a deal to be sealed before the end of the talks. "This is a historic opportunity that can’t be lost and that must be seized now," Maldives Environment Minister Aminath Shauna said. Poorer countries that bear the brunt of climate change, from rising sea levels to extreme flooding, stepped up the urgency, accusing richer polluters of stalling and said they cannot wait another year for the creation of a fund to pay for damages. Before Timmermans sprung the two-page proposal, special teams of ministers said they made progress on major issues, including loss and damage. But the mood was somewhat grim. Read more: COP27: Bangladesh urges developed countries to double climate financing by 2025 United Nations climate chief Simon Stiell urged negotiators to get cracking. “There is an outcome where we all come out of this having done our jobs and with something that protects our planet,” Stiell said. “Let’s do that." Then Timmermans came out with his proposals and negotiators, including U.S. Special Envoy John Kerry, dashed about trying to figure out what to do next. Problems quickly popped up. China, which had been quiet during much of the talks, insisted that the 2015 Paris Agreement should not be changed and money for the new fund should come from developed countries, not them. Saudi Arabia also said it was important “to not go beyond what we have” in the Paris pact and was reluctant to pony up to a compensation fund. Asked to comment on the EU proposal, Kerry said he hadn't had a chance to read it yet. “We’ll take a look at it,” he told The AP. "You know, we’ll see.” Egypt's leadership of the summit, called COP27, came under criticism earlier Thursday presenting what some negotiators described as a 20-page “laundry list” of wide-reaching ideas. “It is evidently clear that at this late stage of the COP27 process, there are still a number of issues where progress remains lacking,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, the president of the summit, said late Thursday. U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who had flown in for the final stage of negotiations, warned of a “breakdown in trust between North and South, and between developed and emerging economies.” “The world is watching and has a simple message: stand and deliver,” he told leaders, adding that there was “no time for finger pointing.” Negotiators were surprised by several ideas in the Egyptian draft that they said were never discussed at the two-week talks. Among them was a call for developed countries to achieve “net-negative carbon emissions by 2030” — a far tougher target than any major nation has so far committed to and which would be very hard to achieve. The EU and U.S., for example, have said they aim to reach net zero emissions by 2050, China by 2060. The head of the European Parliament Bas Eirkhout said it was "too broad, too many topics, too vague language and too many items, which I don’t think have to be in a cover decision.” The conference is supposed to end Friday, but past gatherings have been extended to reach a deal. Longtime negotiations analyst Alden Meyer of E3G said that unlike in previous years, the president of the conference delayed putting together special teams of ministers to push through solutions on big issues, except loss and damage, and that’s putting everything behind. Read more: Adapting to climate change is the main focus of COP27: Info Minister There were at least half a dozen instances where nations were “taking negotiations hostage” by taking hardline, seemingly inflexible stances, Meyer said. The biggest was on the compensation fund for climate disasters, known as “loss and damage” in negotiators’ parlance. The United States has resisted any fund that would suggest liability and compensation — let alone reparations — for decades of greenhouse gas emissions by industrialized nations. European countries have backed calls by island nations for a “mosaic” of financial arrangements drawing on public and private sources of money. But there are big differences over who should pay. German officials said the money should not come only from the industrialized nations, but also major emerging economies whose greenhouse gas emissions have increased sharply in recent decades. Heavy polluters China and India, however, argue they should not have to contribute because they are still officially considered developing nations. The issue of loss and damage is one of three financial aid pots discussed. Rich nations agreed in past conferences to spend $100 billion a year to help poorer countries develop cleaner energy systems and adapt to prevent future disasters — though they have lagged in giving the funds. One longtime participant in the climate talks, Yamide Dagnet of the Open Society Foundation, said developed countries were showing more openness on “loss and damage.” “But fear of compensation and liability remains a Damocles sword that needs to be overcome,” said Dagnet, a former EU negotiator at the talks. “The United States is probably the most nervous about how much it can give in on loss and damage after decades of delaying tactics, backed by other developed countries,” she said. Timmermans, the EU climate chief, expressed cautious hope that an agreement might be achieved yet in Egypt. “I am by nature an optimistic person, but I’m also realist," he told The AP. "I think it is possible, but I grant you, it’s not going to be easy.” His comments were echoed by Chilean Environment Minister Maisa Rojas. “I think we’re making progress. We heard a lot of goodwill in particular on the financing for loss and damage,” she told The AP. The EU offer on climate financing “looks promising. So, I think there will be good advances.”