PremiumWorld leaders meeting on Monday for climate talks in Egypt are under pressure to deepen cuts in emissions and financially back developing countries already devastated by the effects of rising temperatures.
The UN's COP27 climate summit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh comes as nations worldwide are facing increasingly intense natural disasters that have taken thousands of lives this year alone and cost billions of dollars.
At the opening ceremony on Sunday, COP27 officials urged governments to keep up efforts to combat climate change despite the economic crises linked to Russia's war on Ukraine, an energy crunch, soaring inflation and the persistent Covid-19 pandemic.
"The fear is other priorities take precedence," top United Nations climate change official Simon Stiell told a news conference.
The "fear is that we lose another day, another week, another month, another year -- because we can't", he said.
The world must slash greenhouse emissions 45 percent by 2030 to cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius above late-19th-century levels.
But current trends would see carbon pollution increase 10 percent by the end of the decade and Earth's surface heat up 2.8C, according to findings unveiled in recent days.
Only 29 of 194 countries have presented improved climate plans, as called for at the UN talks in Glasgow last year, Stiell noted.
Some 110 heads of state and government are expected to participate in two days of talks, with the notable absence of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, whose country is the world's top emitter of greenhouse gases.
US President Joe Biden, whose country ranks second on the top-polluters list, will join COP27 later this week after midterm elections on Tuesday that could put Republicans hostile to international action on climate change in charge of Congress.
Here are 10 things to watch out for the climate gathering:
1. Among the lineup for Monday will be the heads of big oil producers Saudi Arabia and UAE that want a future role for fossil fuels; untested right-leaning prime ministers from the UK and Italy wary of government overreach; and leaders from poor climate-vulnerable nations like Niger and Palau keen for international funding.
2. Scores of other heads of state will speak in a parade of climate oratory that will spill into Tuesday, but many of the world's biggest emitters will be left until next week or have been left off the schedule entirely.
3. U.S. President Joe Biden will arrive next week, as will newly elected Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
4. Chinese President Xi Jinping is not scheduled to attend COP27, but he will have an envoy at the conference. India is not on the list, and no representatives from Russia, the target of western sanctions for its war on Ukraine, are currently on the schedule.
5. Egypt has officially taken the reins as COP host from the UK and has billed the conference as one that will turn the pledges made at the 2021 climate talks in Glasgow into action.
6. Delegates on Sunday set a positive tone by agreeing to add discussion of compensating poor nations for climate damage to the conference agenda for the first time ever, something that will usher in rounds of tough negotiations.
7. Other things to watch will include a World Trade Organization report expected Monday about the role of trade policy in climate change, and some expected announcements about forests as climate sinks.
8. Speaking about India, according to the Union Environment Ministry statement, the country looks forward to substantial progress on the discussions related to climate finance and clarity on its definition. PM Modi has not travelled to Egypt for the summit this year, however, the Indian delegation will be led by Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav. At the UN climate conference, India is set to emphasise again on its invitation to all countries to join the LiFE movement – "Lifestyle for Environment", a pro-people and pro-planet effort that seeks to shift the world from mindless and wasteful consumption to mindful and deliberate utilization of natural resources.
9. Last year, at the COP26 in Glasgow, tens of thousands of demonstrators from all over the world marched to demand "climate justice". Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg skipped COP27, slamming it as a forum for "greenwashing" and saying the "space for civil society this year is extremely limited". On Sunday, ignoring the restrictions, a handful of activists waved banners at the entrance to the summit hall. "We are trying to promote the veganism to help save the planet from the greenhouse gases", said Tom Modgmah, a follower of Vietnamese "Supreme Master Ching Hai", alongside colleagues waving banners. "Be vegan, make peace," they read.
10. Meanwhile, according to a new report by non-profit group Oxfam, the investments of 125 of the world’s richest billionaires yield an annual average of three million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year, more than a million times the average for someone in the bottom 90 per cent of humanity.
(With inputs from agencies)