{"id":47550,"date":"2022-11-12T06:07:55","date_gmt":"2022-11-12T06:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=47550"},"modified":"2022-11-12T06:07:55","modified_gmt":"2022-11-12T06:07:55","slug":"cop27-bulletin-biden-brings-crumbs-of-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2022\/11\/12\/cop27-bulletin-biden-brings-crumbs-of-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Cop27 bulletin: Biden brings crumbs of support"},"content":{"rendered":"

Airforce One landed<\/a> in Sharm el-Sheikh at\u00a03:20pm\u00a0on Friday and left at 6:20pm<\/a> for Cambodia. That gave US president Joe Biden just enough time to meet Egypt\u2019s Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and\u00a0deliver a 30-minute speech.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Cop27 visit is a stopover to bigger business next week when Biden meets China\u2019s Xi Jinping in Bali ahead of the G20 summit.<\/p>\n

Beijing suspended<\/a> climate talks with Washington after house speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August. Relations between the two superpowers could make or break the outcome of Cop27.<\/p>\n

In Egypt, Biden came to show off\u00a0his\u00a0$370bn climate package<\/a>\u00a0– for the US – and promise deeper methane cuts in the oil and gas sector.<\/p>\n

But there was little\u00a0for the rest of world. On what matters for the “implementation Cop” \u2013 cash \u2013 Biden had his hands tied.<\/p>\n

Without congressional\u00a0agreement,\u00a0Biden cannot put more money on the table. But he gave some details\u00a0on how his administration will parcel out its existing budget – including to boost Egypt’s clean energy plans.<\/p>\n

Senior US officials briefed in advance that Biden would press el-Sisi on human rights issues. Critically,\u00a0the release of Alaa Abdel Fattah, the Egyptian-British activist on hunger strike, who stopped drinking water six days ago.<\/p>\n

Egyptian authorities told his mother el-Fattah had undergone \u201cmedical intervention\u201d. That could mean\u00a0he is being force-fed but the family has no proof he is still alive.<\/p>\n

The #FreeAlaa campaign\u00a0has dominated the summit. El-Fattah’s\u00a0fate could overshadow\u00a0any climate legacy.<\/p>\n

His family urged Biden not to leave the country without evidence el-Fattah lives. As the wheels of Airforce One\u00a0left the tarmac, there was no word.<\/p>\n

\n

Young activists holding a banner briefly interrupt @POTUS<\/a> speech at #COP27<\/a>. Unlike in past climate meetings, protests have been severely curtailed, with no large marches around #Egypt<\/a>\u2019s Sharm el-Sheikh pic.twitter.com\/UluJ5csNFv<\/a><\/p>\n

— Laura Millan (@LauraMillanL) November 11, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n