The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has called for a clear and decisive shift from abstract promises to real-world action as the COP27 climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, kicked off on Sunday.
Via a press release, the organisation warned global leaders that the climate crisis is moving faster than our response to it and that people and places all over the globe are reeling from the catastrophic consequences of inaction.
Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, WWF global climate and energy lead, said that “time has never really been on our side, but now it is our biggest enemy. The extent of climate breakdown is already clear across the globe, devastating lives and livelihoods, and further accelerating biodiversity loss.”
“We are way off course to keep warming to 1.5ºC and time is rapidly running out for us to take transformative action to avoid the most appalling and irreversible damages to society and ecosystems.”
According to the WWF, a massive gap remains between what is needed, what countries have promised, and what is actually happening in terms of reducing emissions, building resilience and providing support for low-income countries.
“We don’t have time for more delays and excuses! Countries must deliver on past promises and raise their ambition and action to stop the climate crisis from spiralling further out of control. Every lost year puts more vulnerable people at risk. We must use this moment now to steer the world to a clean, sustainable future. Every moment matters now,” Pulgar-Vidal said.
With unprecedented floods in Pakistan that left a third of the country under water, and other parts of the world devastated by heatwaves, droughts, fires and intensifying tropical storms, the WWF urged parties to secure breakthrough agreements on adoption and Loss and Damage financing.
With disasters leaving vulnerable countries and communities urgently in need of support, it is essential that the international community comes together to help them to adapt, build resilience and address the unjust costs of the climate crisis.
The WWF also called for nature to be given a more substantive role in discussions this year. The climate crisis is driving nature loss, and the destruction of natural ecosystems is in turn fuelling the climate crisis. But nature can be part of the solution.
The organisation urged leaders to embed nature-based solutions within climate action and create momentum ahead of the December COP15 biodiversity summit in Montreal – humanity’s last chance to reset its broken relationship with nature.
As the summit takes place in the context of geopolitical tensions and an increased focus on energy security around the world, the WWF called on countries to come together to deliver strong outcomes that will provide solutions for a safe and secure future.
Without rapidly transforming our energy, food, transport and land use sectors and eliminating dependence on fossil fuels, geopolitical tensions will only worsen, the organisation said.
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