The 27th Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) kicked off in Egypt to discuss ways to lessen the negative impact of climate change.

The meeting is being held against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is severely undermining the spirit of international cooperation.

But the world has no time to waste in the battle against global warming. The conference will test the commitment of nations to tackling this crucial challenge by acting with solid unity.

Even if countries fulfill their current climate commitments, global greenhouse gas emissions will rise by 10.6 percent by 2030 above 2010 levels, according to a report recently released by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The plans to slash greenhouse emissions that countries have drawn up possibly put the world on course for warming of about 2.5 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century, the report said.

Some experts are warning that the effects of global warming are already making themselves felt in the form of extreme weather events such as torrential rain and draught. Greater efforts are needed to reduce emissions of heat-trapping gasses like carbon dioxide to meet the temperature targets set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, which called for holding the increase of global temperatures to well below 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees.

During last year’s climate summit in Glasgow, the participating countries agreed to make efforts to limit the rise to 1.5 degrees. The COP26 also called for phasing out coal-fired thermal power generation.

But the war in Ukraine has led to serious shortages and sharply higher prices of natural gas and other energy sources. The situation prompted some countries to increase their consumption of coal, which emits more CO2 when burned.

In Japan, the government is expanding energy subsidies that could run counter to its efforts to shave energy consumption and reduce carbon footprints.

The COP27 delegates face formidable challenges. One is whether nations will reach an agreement to remain committed to the cuts in greenhouse emissions needed to avoid a global climate catastrophe instead of focusing only on the short-term need to secure energy. This also requires an accord on greater financial and technological support to developing countries to help them achieve their own climate targets.

Egypt, as host of the summit, adopted the slogan of “Together for Implementation” for the conference. Key issues Egypt has put on the agenda for the COP27 include responses to the effects of climate change on developing countries and compensation for the “loss and damage” that have already resulted.

While lower-income and climate-vulnerable countries are seeking compensation for losses and damage from climate-induced extreme weather events, industrial nations, which have been the leading greenhouse gas emitters, are wary of the possible liabilities they may face. A rocky road will lie ahead for negotiations over the issue.

But the history of efforts to curb harmful climate change has already been bumpy.

The COP15 failed to adopt a consensus document due to a deep rift between industrial and developing nations. On the other hand, the COP21 produced the groundbreaking Paris climate pact, under which both rich and poor countries agreed, for the first time, to act, albeit at different paces, to tackle climate change.

Although the United States withdrew from the Paris accord when Donald Trump was president, Washington returned to the pact under the Biden administration.

Leading polluters, including China and the United States, have key roles to play in ensuring effective global responses to climate change. Japan, for its part, should make steady progress toward achieving its own greenhouse emissions targets.

Despite their conflicting interests, countries need to act on the recognition that climate change poses a threat to the human race. It must be clearly understood that backtracking or procrastinating on tackling this challenge is tantamount to betraying future generations.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 8