Rishi Sunak arrives as Cop27 to discuss climate compensation – follow live

Hundreds of environmental activists blocked private jets from leaving Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in a demonstration on the eve of the Cop27 climate conference in Egypt.

Footage showed Greenpeace and Extinction Rebellion activists cycling around the planes at the transport hub, before others sat down in front of private jets to prevent them from leaving.

Hundreds of other climate activists occupied the airport’s main hall and carried signs that “more trains” and “restrict aviation”.

Dewi Zloch of Greenpeace Netherlands said the activists want “fewer flights, more trains and a ban on unnecessary short-haul flights and private jets.”

World leaders at the Cop27 summit in Egypt have agreed to negotiate for the first time whether rich nations should compensate vulnerable poor countries for their suffering related to climate change.

Funding for countries that have suffered permanent losses and irreparable damage from the climate crisis, termed “loss and damage”, has been placed on the agenda.

“Getting finance for Loss and Damage in the agenda for Cop27 is a definite win for developing countries,” Dr Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) in Bangladesh told The Independent in Sharm el-Sheikh.

He added that the next step would be to “get the fund set up by the end of Cop27”.

Louise Boyle and Stuti Mishra report.

South Africa needs nearly $84bn over the next five years for its plans to cut carbon emissions and transition to cleaner energy while supporting the affected communities, president Cyril Ramaphosa said.

At last year’s climate conference in Glasgow, first-world nations committed $8.5bn to help South Africa cut its reliance on coal, which is used for the bulk of its electricity generation.

However, according to Mr Ramaphosa, South Africa needs far more than what was pledged at Cop26.

“The scale of funding that is required to achieve our country’s ambition is significantly higher, much higher than the funding that has been offered,” Mr Ramaphosa said last week.

“In going to COP27, that is the message we will be taking forward.”

Pakistan prime minister Shehbaz Sharif, who is the chair of the G77 group of developing nations, has arrived in Egypt to attend the Cop27 climate summit, where he is expected to urge the international community to deliver on its commitment to climate finance along with the loss and damage fund.

Compensation paid by the international community to countries hit by climate disasters is one of the key agenda items for the summit in Egypt.

“Extreme climatic events in Pakistan and the Horn of Africa this year have showcased globalisation of climate change. Turning a blind eye to its lethal effects will be criminal,” Mr Sharif said in a tweet.

World leaders have been warned climate breakdown is close to being “irreversible”, as they gathered for the make-or-break Cop27 summit amid accusations of “backsliding on promises made”.

The UN secretary-general warned world leaders in Egypt – including Rishi Sunak, after his U-turn on attending – that “our planet is on course to reach tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible”.

Simon Stiell, the UN climate chief, demanded that the promise be kept, saying he is “looking out” at the 165 countries that still needed to move further and faster.

“I will not be a custodian of backsliding,” he said, adding: “We know what must be done by everybody everywhere, every single day, doing everything we possibly can. Colleagues, it’s time to get to work.”

Rob Merrick and Joe Middleton report.

British prime minister Rishi Sunak today will tell world leaders at the Cop27 climate summit in Egypt to deliver on their promises to tackle global warming.

He is expected to call on governments to deliver on the promises made at last year’s climate summit in Glasgow, when host nation Britain helped to broker a wide-ranging climate pact – much of which is yet to be implemented.

“The world came together in Glasgow with one last chance to create a plan that would limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees. The question today is: can we summon the collective will to deliver on those promises?” he will say, according to extracts released by his office.

The proceedings of Cop27 in Egypt could be stained by the death of one of the country’s leading rights activists from a hunger and water strike in prison if he is not released within the next few days, Amnesty International said on Sunday.

Agnes Callamard, the secretary general of the rights body, said that Egyptian authorities had no more than 72 hours to save the life of jailed dissident Alaa Abd El-Fatteh.

“If they do not want to end up with a death they should have and could have prevented, they must act now,” Ms Callamard said at a news briefing.

Ms Callamard said she will be attending the climate summit to push for action on human rights issues related to climate change and immediate action on the case of the British-Egyptian prisoner.

Africa, the world’s youngest continent, is on the cusp of sweeping economic development. But that development must be powered by renewables, writes Mohamed Adow.

World leaders have been warned climate breakdown is close to being “irreversible”, as they gathered for the make-or-break Cop27 summit amid accusations of “backsliding on promises made”.

The conference got under way against the gloomy backdrop of a new United Nations report finding the 1.5C limit for global heating is now “barely within reach” – after the past eight years were the eight hottest ever recorded.

The UN secretary-general warned world leaders in Egypt – including Rishi Sunak, after his U-turn on attending – that “our planet is on course to reach tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible”.