Sharm el-Sheikh/New York, November 18 – The annual climate change summit attended by some 200 governments and international organizations failed to agree on a final document as it was closing and would need more time, the president of the meeting said citing outstanding climate-related issues.

The 27th Conference of the Parties (November 6-18) at the Egyptian resort city will close one day later than expected after calling on negotiators to “shift gears” so an agreement can be reached on the remaining sticking points, U.N. News reported.

“I remain concerned at the number of outstanding issues, including on finance mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage and their inter linkages,” COP27 President, Sameh Shoukry, told delegates at the Sharm el-Sheik International Convention Centre.

U.N. News said Secretary-General António Guterres held separate intensive talks with members of the European Union and the Group of 77 and China, which groups developing countries, to spur negotiations on the final text.

“As the negotiations draw to a close, the Secretary-General urges parties to aim for maximum ambition on loss and damage and in reduction of emissions,” the U.N. leaders said in a note issued in Sharm el-Sheikh by his spokesperson.

The document under negotiations reaffirmed the 1.5-degree Celsius target to curb global warming and welcomes reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It also called for “deep, rapid emission cuts” as well as an acceleration of clean energy transitions in the 2020s.

The document also keeps language reached at the 2021 climate summit in Glasgow on “phasing down coal power” and calls on parties to “rationalise fossil fuel subsidies” and urges new climate action national plans by 2023, UN News said. The document welcomes the loss and damage agenda item, but it does not mention the creation or a funding facility.

The European Union has presented an official proposal for creating a loss and damage fund, sparking hope for what some delegations from developing countries said might be a “breakthrough.”

As the negotiations on the final document dragged on and appeared to miss the deadline on closing date, Guterres said, “There is clearly a breakdown in trust between North and South, and between developed and emerging economies. This is no time for finger-pointing. The blame game is a recipe for mutually assured destruction.”

“The world is watching and has a simple message: stand and deliver,” Guterres said at the conference center.

When the summit opened on November 6, it was strongly urged to implement programs agreed at previous meetings such as reduce emissions and finance projects to help countries adapt to climate consequences.

The U.N. said over 40,000 people have registered to attend, including government officials of the 197 countries that signed the UNFCCC, businesses, non-government organizations and civil society groups. The U.N. said COP27 programs include finance, science, youth and future generations, decarbonization, adaptation and agriculture, gender, water, energy, biodiversity and solutions.

At the COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2021, governments agreed to act on  climate plans agreed upon at the Paris conference in 2015, which called for limiting atmospheric warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the centuryand for developed countries to provide $100 billion a year to assist developing countries.

But a study published by the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on October 26 said plans submitted by countries to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to earth warming, have failed their targets and temperatures may rise to at least 2.5 C, a level deemed catastrophic

Guterres said in a message at the opening of COP27 that the last eight years have been the warmest on record, “making every heatwave more intense and life-threatening, especially for vulnerable populations.”

Citing a report by the World Meteorological Organization, he said, “Sea levels are rising at twice the speed of the 1990s – posing an existential threat for low-lying island states, and threatening billions of people in coastal regions. Glacier melt records are themselves melting away – jeopardizing water security for whole continents.”

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