EU final offer at climate talks

SHARM EL SHEIKH, Egypt (AFP) — The United Nations’ climate talks entered their last day Friday with rich and developing nations deadlocked over creating a fund for countries devastated by the impacts of global warming — and the European Union warning its offer was final.

Representatives from nearly 200 countries have gathered at the COP27 in Egypt for two weeks with the aim of driving forward action on climate change as the world faces a worsening onslaught of extreme floods, heat waves and droughts.

The daunting list of urgent tasks includes finding agreement — and funds — for the emissions cuts needed to limit average warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels, which scientists say is a safer guardrail to avoid the most dangerous impacts.

The European Union, however, made an offer late Thursday to create a fund to help the most vulnerable countries that would be part of a “mosaic” of options for providing money from a range of sources.

Agreement on funding for impacted countries remains elusive.