SHARM EL SHEIKH: UN chief Antonio Guterres urged rich and developing nations to stop the “finger pointing” at deadlocked climate talks on Thursday and reach a deal on covering the losses suffered by vulnerable countries battered by weather disasters.
With the two-week COP27 conference in Egypt officially due to wrap up on Friday, negotiators faced a long night as they scrambled to find a compromise over the contentious issue of “loss and damage” and prevent the talks from collapsing.
Guterres said there was “clearly a breakdown in trust” between developed and emerging economies, adding that the most effective way to build confidence would be to find an “ambitious and credible agreement” on loss and damage and financial support for vulnerable countries.
“This is no time for finger pointing. The blame game is a recipe for mutually assured destruction,” he said, after flying back to Egypt from Bali where he had attended a G20 leaders meeting.
“The time for talking on loss and damage finance is over — we need action.”
Developing nations least responsible for global emissions are pushing rich polluters to agree at COP27 on the creation of a fund to compensate countries facing huge losses from climate impacts.
After dragging their feet over loss and damage over concerns it would leave rich nations legally exposed to open-ended demands for compensation, the United States and European Union somewhat softened their position by agreeing to discuss the issue at COP27.
Hours after Guterres’s intervention, Sameh Shoukry, the COP27 president, urged delegates to approach the last hours of talks with “urgency.”
“We are not where we need to be in order to close this conference with tangible and robust outcomes,” he said at a session late Thursday.
European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans proposed the establishment of a “loss and damage response fund for the most vulnerable countries” as a compromise.
But he also said that the funding should come from a “broad donor base” — code for China, the world’s top polluter and second biggest economy, to participate.
An earlier proposal from China and some 130 developing nations — known as G77+China — limits the donor base to a list of two-dozen rich nations drawn up in 1992.
Timmermans has said that countries such as China, which were poorer 30 years ago, should not be left “off the hook” now that they have grown wealthier.
The G77+China proposal also says the fund would be used to assist “developing nations” in broader terms than the EU’s proposal.
“For us, the success of COP27 depends on what we get on loss and damage,” G77+China lead negotiator Nabeel Munir of Pakistan said after Timmermans spoke.
The United States, the world’s second biggest carbon emitter, did not address the open meeting while a Chinese representative did not directly mention loss and damage in his intervention.
A draft text published later on the COP27 website included some of the language in both proposals, without going into details into who would have to pay into the fund.
Earlier, Ralph Regenvanu, minister of climate change for the Pacific island of Vanuatu, warned that walking out of the talks “was discussed as an option” if developing nations come away empty handed.
“We are out of time and we are out of money and we are out of patience,” he said at a news conference.
Protests held within the conference compound have sought to keep up the pressure on delegates, with small but vocal crowds of demonstrators chanting: “What do we want? Climate justice!“
The deadlock on loss and damage is holding up agreement on a broad range of issues that nations are hoping to address at COP27.
Developed countries want countries to reaffirm their commitment to meeting the aspirational goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius — a tough target as CO2 emissions are expected to hit an all-time high this year.
Timmermans said that for the EU, the 1.5C target and loss and damage “are two sides of the same coin.”
“We sincerely hope that by this offer that we are making tonight, we can bring parties closer together because we believe it is urgent that we show to all our constituents that we want this COP to succeed,” he said.
Developing nations have also sought assurances at COP27 that rich countries will finally fulfil promises to provide $100 billion a year to help them green their economies and adapt to future impacts.
“The climate clock is ticking, and trust keeps eroding,” Guterres said.
“The parties at COP27 have a chance to make a difference — here and now. I urge them to act — and act quickly.”
UN chief says stop ‘blame game’ at deadlocked climate talks
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UN chief says stop ‘blame game’ at deadlocked climate talks
Two high-speed trains derail in Spain, police sources say 21 people killed
- The accident happened near Adamuz, in Cordoba province. So far, 21 people have been confirmed dead by police
MADRID: A high-speed train derailed and smashed into another oncoming train in southern Spain on Sunday, pushing the second train off the tracks in a collision that police sources confirmed to Reuters had killed at least 21 people.
The accident happened near Adamuz, in Cordoba province. So far, 21 people have been confirmed dead by police, with state broadcaster Television Espanola adding that 100 people had been injured, 25 seriously. The driver of one of the trains, which was traveling from Madrid to Huelva, was among those who died, the TV station added.
“The Iryo 6189 Malaga — (to Madrid) train has derailed from the track at Adamuz, crashing onto the adjacent track. The (Madrid) to Huelva train which was traveling on the adjacent track has also derailed,” said Adif, which runs the rail network, in a social media post.
Adif said the accident happened at 6:40 p.m. (1740 GMT), about 10 minutes after the Iryo train left Cordoba heading toward Madrid.
Iryo is a private rail operator, majority-owned by Italian state-controlled railway group Ferrovie dello Stato. The train involved was a Freccia 1000 train which was traveling between Malaga and Madrid, a spokesperson for Ferrovie dello Stato said.
The company said in a statement that it deeply regretted what had happened and had activated all emergency protocols to work closely with the relevant authorities to manage the situation.
The second train was operated by Renfe, which also did not respond to a request for comment.
Adif has suspended all rail services between Madrid and Andalusia.
HORRIFIC SCENE
The Iryo train had more than 300 passengers on board, while the Renfe train had around 100.
Paco Carmona, Cordoba fire chief, told TVE the first train heading to Madrid from Malaga had been evacuated.
The other train’s carriages were badly damaged, he said, with twisted metal and seats. “There are still people trapped. We don’t know how many people have died and the operation is concentrating on getting people out of areas which are very narrow,” he said. “We have to remove the bodies to reach anyone who is still alive. It is proving to be a complicated task.”
Transport Minister Oscar Puente said he was following events from rail operator Adif’s headquarters in Madrid.
“The latest information is very serious,” he posted on X. “The impact was terrible, causing the first two carriages of the Renfe train to be thrown off the track. The number of victims cannot be confirmed at this time. The most important thing now is to help the victims.”
The mayor of Adamuz, Rafael Moreno, told El Pais newspaper that he had been among the first to arrive at the scene of the accident alongside the local police and saw what he believed to be a badly lacerated body several meters from the accident site.
“The scene is horrific,” he said. “I don’t think they were on the same track, but it’s not clear. Now the mayors and residents of the area are focused on helping the passengers.”
CALLS FOR MEDICS
Images on local television showed a reception center set up for passengers in the town of Adamuz, population 5,000, with locals coming and going with food and blankets amid nighttime temperatures of around 42 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius).
A woman named Carmen posted on X that she had been on board the Iryo train to Madrid. “Ten minutes after departing (from Cordoba) the train started to shake a lot, and it derailed from coach 6 behind us. The lights went out.”
Footage posted by another Iryo train passenger, also on X, showed an Iryo staffer in a fluorescent jacket instructing passengers to remain in their seats in the darkened carriages, and those with first aid training to keep watch over fellow passengers. He also urged people to maintain mobile phone batteries to be able to use their torches when they disembarked.
Salvador Jimenez, a journalist for RTVE who was on board the Iryo train, shared images showing the nose of the rear carriage of the train lying on its side, with evacuated passengers sitting on the side of the carriage facing upwards.
Jimenez told TVE by phone from beside the stricken trains that passengers had used emergency hammers to smash the windows and climb out, and they had seen two people taken out of the overturned carriages on stretchers.
“There’s a certain uncertainty about when we’ll get to Madrid, where we’ll spend the night, we’ve had no message from the train company yet,” he said. “It’s very cold but here we are.”
