10 November 2022 /

COP 27- UN CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE /

The UN News reports that the first of the ‘thematic’ days kicked off on Wednesday at COP27, focussed on finance and activists made it clear from the start that there must be a global push to redirect the hundreds of billions of dollars invested annually in fossil fuels to help fund community- led renewable energy initiatives.

“Over 50 activists of all ages and backgrounds took over the so-called ‘Blue Zone’ – the main area of the conference centre in Sharm el-Sheikh overseen by the UN – to chant “Stop funding fossil fuels! Stop funding death!”

Susan Huang, representing the NGO Oil Change International, was among the participants aiming to shed light on the fact that wealthy countries, as noted by the UN Secretary-General earlier this week, are still pouring money into fossil fuels at a time when we need an urgent transition to renewable energy,” reports UN News on 9 November 2022.

“Rich countries are out to grab the huge gas reserves, and people are being dispossessed of their land. One million people out of the 23 million [of Mozambique’s] population are living in refugee camps because of gas. We say no to more gas finance. We won’t let Africa burn,” Susan Huang cautioned.

 “Energy plans that can be controlled and operated by the people in the community,” Susan Huang urged to increase energy access worldwide to invest in community-supported renewable energy plans.

COP27 highlighted that trillions of dollars worth of investments are needed each year to address the impact of the climate crisis.

A new tool was launched that combines satellite data and artificial intelligence to show the facility-level greenhouse gas emissions of over 70,000 sites around the world.

COP27, the UN Climate meeting started on 6 November 2022 at Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt.