UN, EU express ‘disappointment’ over outcomes of COP27

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt

The UN and European Union on Sunday expressed their disappointment over the final declaration of the UN Climate Change Conference or COP27 on reducing emissions.

"Our planet is still in the emergency room. We need to drastically reduce emissions now, and this is an issue this COP did not address," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

He described the decisions made by COP27, hosted by Egypt, as "clearly not enough" to cut emissions.

For his part, European Commission's Vice President, Frans Timmermans, said the outcomes of the climate change conference were not a sufficient step to move forward with reducing emissions.

"It does not bring enough added efforts for major emitters to increase and accelerate their emissions cuts," Timmermans told the conference.

Countries attending COP27 in Egypt’s Red Sea city of Sharm el-Sheikh earlier Sunday adopted a final agreement that establishes a fund to help poor nations cope with disasters caused by global warming.

Critics, however, say the deal does not do enough to boost efforts to tackle the emissions that cause global warming.

The agreement came after marathon talks between delegates from about 200 countries that exceeded the final date of the summit. COP27 was originally scheduled to close on Friday.

Writing by Ahmed Asmar