Climate negotiators in Egypt say they remain far from an agreement

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt — With only a day left in scheduled climate negotiations in Egypt, diplomats say they are far from getting something everyone can agree on, particularly in the confrontation between developed and developing nations over compensation for climate disasters.

Poorer countries that bear the brunt of climate change, from rising sea levels to extreme flooding, stepped up the urgency, accusing richer polluters of stalling and said they cannot wait another year for the creation of a fund to pay for damages. Some said they were ready to kill a final deal if it doesn’t include a fund, while a few richer nations threaten roadblocks over some of the poorer countries’ financial proposals.

Egypt’s leadership of the summit, called COP27, also came under criticism after it presented early Thursday a 20-page draft for an overarching cover document that delegates said was too long, vague and confusing.

“It is evidently clear that at this late stage of the COP27 process, there are still a number of issues where progress remains lacking,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, the president of the summit, said late Thursday, listing four of the biggest issues of the conference.

Seconds later, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned of a “breakdown in trust between North and South, and between developed and emerging economies.”

“The world is watching and has a simple message: stand and deliver,” he told leaders after flying back to Egypt after a world leaders conference in Bali.

The negotiation situation was so fragile that Shoukry kept countries’ chief officials in hours-long sessions Thursday afternoon and evening to try to get things moving.

Negotiators were also surprised by ideas in the Egyptian draft that were never discussed at the two-week talks.

Among them was a call for developed countries to achieve “net-negative carbon emissions by 2030” — a far tougher target than any major nation has so far committed to and which would be very hard to achieve. The EU and U.S., for example, have said they aim to reach net zero emissions by 2050, China by 2060.

The head of the European Parliament at the U.N. climate conference described the document as “a bit of wish list” with “all the topics” thrown in.

Bas Eirkhout said it was “too broad, too many topics, too vague language and too many items, which I don’t think have to be in a cover decision.”

The conference is supposed to end Friday, but past gatherings have been extended to reach a deal.