COP27 climate summit faces test of Russia-Ukraine war and energy crisis

To restart cooperation, the US side should seriously reflect on what it has done on the Taiwan issue and not take any action that could lead to an escalation of tension.

Kerry said he sent an email to China's special envoy on climate change affairs, Xie Zhenhua in September, but received no response.



Officials warned that recent floods in Pakistan would disrupt economic growth and cause severe food shortages.

Photo Credit: AAMIR QURESHI/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

In October, to slow down China's progress in developing advanced technology, the Biden administration announcedRules that basically prohibit cooperation between US semiconductor companies and Chinese companiesThe tense relationship between the US and China has once again intensified.

The impact of the war in Ukraine on climate negotiations has intensified in recent months. As the climate and environment ministers of the Group of Twenty (G20) were preparing to meet in August, they soon realized that under the influence of the Russian-Ukrainian war, it was impossible for countries to reach a consensus.

Officials participating in these talks said that the United States, European countries and their allies hoped to call the Russian-Ukrainian conflict a war in their concluding remarks at the conference and describe its adverse effects on the global energy market. Russian officials, on the other hand, only wanted to mention “geopolitical tension.” Officials said that Indonesia, the host country of the G20 summit in Bali, wanted to put aside the dispute over Ukraine at the time, and China, India, and other developing countries also supported this approach.

According to officials familiar with relevant discussions, in Bali, the Chinese delegation led by China's Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment Zhao Yingmin opposed including language requiring countries to update their emissions targets before the Sharm el-Sheikh summit.

Western concerns about Ukraine have made developing countries unhappy. The US alone has provided Ukraine with aid worth more than $15 billion, and developing countries have long wanted rich countries to spend more money to help them reduce emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change. Since this year, developed countries have yet to fulfill one of the promises made at the Glasgow Climate Summit to provide an additional US$348.9 million to help developing countries adapt to climate change. Of these, the 50 million dollars promised by the US have not been paid, and the EU and the UK have pledged investment amounts of US$116.5 million and US$20.7 million, respectively.

US officials said that the US side is promoting the payment of 50 million US dollars through the funding process and is seeking to pay half of the amount this fiscal year.

Western officials have been willing to accept a new type of funding called “loss and damage,” which is mainly for countries that claim to be unable to adapt to the serious effects of climate change. Negotiators expect that after the recent devastating floods in Pakistan, this funding issue will be included on the agenda of the UN climate summit in Egypt. So far, the US has pledged $66 million in aid to Pakistan.