COP27 climate summit to test resolve of world battling war, inflation

(Reuters) - An international climate summit starting next week in Egypt will test the resolve of nations to combat global warming, even as many of the biggest players are distracted by urgent crises ranging from war in Europe to rampant consumer inflation.

More than 30,000 delegates, including representatives from some 200 countries, will gather Nov. 6-18 in the seaside resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh to hash out details around how to slow climate change and help those already feeling its impacts.

But with nations dealing with the fallout of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, along with soaring food and fuel prices and stuttering economic growth, questions loom over whether they will act quickly and ambitiously enough to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

The chill in relations this year between top greenhouse gas emitters China and the

United States does not bode well, experts say.

A United Nations report released last week showed most countries are lagging on their existing commitments to cut carbon output, with global greenhouse gas emissions on track to rise 10.6% by 2030 compared with 2010 levels.

Scientists say emissions must drop 43% by that time to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit)above pre-industrial temperatures – the threshold above which climate change risks spinning out of control.

Only 24 of the nearly 200 countries attending the COP27 talks have submitted new or updated emissions-cutting plans since last year's U.N. climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, even though all had committed to doing so, according to the U.N. climate agency.