{"id":47623,"date":"2022-11-19T06:51:49","date_gmt":"2022-11-19T06:51:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=47623"},"modified":"2022-11-19T06:52:32","modified_gmt":"2022-11-19T06:52:32","slug":"cop27-bulletin-john-kerry-has-covid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2022\/11\/19\/cop27-bulletin-john-kerry-has-covid\/","title":{"rendered":"Cop27 bulletin: John Kerry has Covid"},"content":{"rendered":"

As expected, Cop27 has gone into overtime. Pavilions are being\u00a0packed away and the venue’s food and water supplies are drying\u00a0up. This is when\u00a0negotiating gets\u00a0intense.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vulnerable countries are closer than ever to achieving what many thought would never happen – a dedicated\u00a0facility for loss and damage finance.<\/p>\n

The EU opened the door to it, putting the onus on holdout the US to broker a deal with China. The two countries’ climate envoys spent hours in a room together on Thursday night and unfortunately, one of them caught Covid.<\/p>\n

At the methane ministerial on Thursday, John Kerry said he had a cold but had tested negative for Covid. Whitney Smith, his spokeswoman at the US State Department, said he tested positive on Friday morning. Smith said his symptoms were \u201cmild\u201d and he had worked all day from his hotel.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a blow. Cop deals are still done in person, often on the floor of the plenary hall.<\/p>\n

At last year\u2019s closing plenary, Kerry strode from group to group making promises, reassurances and threats to close the deal.<\/p>\n

US negotiators will still do this. But having to dial in\u00a0the bed-ridden boss risks slowing things down.<\/p>\n

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