Biden and 90 Other Heads of State Descend on COP27 United Nations Climate Summit

President Biden joins ninety heads of state in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, for the COP27 climate summit beginning this weekend. UN analysis finds that current action commitments fall short of reaching global warming goals made during the 2015 UN Paris Agreement.

“This year we experienced record heat waves, floods and natural disasters. If we fail to take action to address climate change, we'll see increasingly worse impacts from the climate crisis,” stated Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network. “As world leaders gather in Africa, the continent most vulnerable to climate change, we see the impacts of the climate crisis on the poor and our global economy.”

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reported that in 2020 annual climate aid from developed to developing countries was $17 billion short of progress towards a $100 billion target agreed back in 2009. At the UN summit, leaders negotiate a revised climate action funding target for beyond 2025.

"More than half of developing countries spend a quarter of their budget on paying debt," noted LeCompte, a United Nations finance expert. "Debt relief is an important part of reaching climate action goals for countries."

At October IMF and World Bank meetings, climate action was a critical part of discussions on debt and lending. Global leaders began a process to reform development banks to lend more for global priorities such as climate. A new IMF process also began that uses donations from wealthy countries to support long-term, cheap loans to developing countries that can support climate action.

“The success of the climate summit is all about showing us the money,” shared LeCompte. "The bottom line is whether or not we can raise the financial contributions to address the climate crisis."

Jubilee USA Network is an alliance of more than 75 US organizations and 750 faith communities working with 50 Jubilee global partners. Jubilee USA builds an economy that serves, protects and promotes the participation of the most vulnerable. Jubilee USA wins critical global financial reforms and won more than $130 billion in debt relief to benefit the world's poorest people. http://www.jubileeusa.org