(Bloomberg) -- South Africa and its investment partners launched an $8.5 billion plan to shift from coal toward green energy at the COP27 climate summit, a potentially landmark deal for the transition away from fossil fuels.

The Just Energy Transition Plan -- backed by the UK, US, France, Germany and the European Union -- is seen as a blueprint for other coal-dependent developing nations to cut greenhouse gas emissions. 

Getting the deal across the line will be seen as a significant win for a COP summit likely to be short of blockbuster announcements. It also shows progress on coal as emissions from the most-polluting fossil fuel continue to set records.  

More than 100 world leaders have started arriving in Sharm el-Sheikh for the UN’s annual climate change summit, attempting to maintain momentum in the battle to curb planet-warming emissions.

Despite an early breakthrough that put the issue of compensating poorer countries for the impact of climate change on the agenda for the first time, delegates are now aiming harsh criticism at each other over issues ranging from climate reparations to funding for mitigation and adaptation in poorer countries.

Rising energy prices, accelerated by Russia’s war in Ukraine, have led many governments to prioritize security of supply over the transition to cleaner energy.

Global emissions need to start falling rapidly before 2030 if the world has any chance of keeping global warming below 2 degrees Celsius. But they will likely hit a record this year. Countries from Pakistan to the US have been hit by unprecedented climate disasters.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Macron and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak are among the biggest names at the start of the two-week event. US President Joe Biden and Brazil’s President-elect Luis Inacio Lula da Silva are due to appear later on. 

The most notable no shows are China’s Xi Jinping and India’s Narendra Modi, leaders of the world’s largest and third-largest emitters.

Latest developments

• Macron says US, China must pay share for climate damage
• US to outline a CO2 credit plan for developing nations
• Europe said to be using Africa as a “gas station”
• Former UK PM Johnson says 1.5C is still achievable

Here are the latest developments. All times Egypt.

Scholz Announces Funding for Global Shield Initiative (9:05 p.m.)

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said his country will put $170 million towards a so-called global shield, which aims to support the most climate-vulnerable countries as they suffer climate damages.

“In our role as G7 presidency, we want to create together with the most vulnerable countries a global shield against climate risks,” he said in a speech at the UN climate talks in Sharm El-Sheikh.

The shield, announced by Germany earlier this year, would provide rapid assistance during extreme weather events and funds to support economic recovery.

Sunak Says UK to Triple Funding for Adaption (7:56 PM)

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the nation will triple funding to £1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) for so-called adaptation projects by 2025.

“Instead of developing countries being unfairly burdened with the carbon debt of richer nations and, somehow expected to forgo that same path to growth, we are helping those countries deliver their own fast track to clean growth,” he said.

Sunak said Britain is already delivering on its commitment of 11.6 billion pounds and is investing 65 million pounds in green projects in Kenya, Egypt and other nations.

UN Chief Urges Aid for Pakistan (6:44 p.m.)

​UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged the international community, meeting this week at COP27 and next week at the G20, to “massively” help flood-hit Pakistan.

In a joint press briefing with Pakistan President Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Guterres reiterated a proposal that a country like Pakistan should be able to forgo debt repayments and use the money for rebuilding of infrastructure.

“If there is any doubt about loss and damage, go to Pakistan, the loss is there,” Guterres told the briefing. This COP needs to find a clear roadmap, including the creation of an institutional framework and financing to compensate the country, he added.

Saudi Says Wealth Fund Aims to Reach Carbon Neutrality by 2050 (4:47 pm)

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund will target net-zero emissions by 2050, the Crown Prince said, as the world top oil producer says it aims to diversify its economy away from oil.

“I today announce the Public Investment Fund aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2050,” Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman said at the climate change talks in Egypt’s Sharm El-Sheikh. Saudi Arabia aims to generate 50 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2030, he added. 

EU, Kazakhstan Sign MoU on Batteries, Green Hydrogen (4:33 pm)

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Alikhan Smailov, prime minister of Kazakhstan, signed a Memorandum of Understanding to build a partnership on sustainable raw materials, batteries and green hydrogen as the former tries to accelerate its roll-out of electric cars and decarbonize its economy by the middle of the century. Similar deals are expected with Egypt and Namibia this week.

“These value chains are very important engines to power the green and the digital transition worldwide,” said von der Leyen at the signing ceremony in Sharm el-Sheikh. “We have ambitious plans to move out of fossil fuels and hydrogen will play a major role to be one of the big sources of renewable energy that we will need.”

Tanzania Set to Sign Deal on $40 Billion LNG Project Next Month (3:00 pm)

Tanzania will sign key agreements with energy companies including Equinor ASA and Shell Plc next month to pave the way for a $40 billion liquefied natural gas project, according to the government.

“In December, we will conclude the conversation,” Energy Minister January Makamba said in an interview. “We are in the fiscal package discussions now.”

Tanzania is doing all it can to make its gas less dirty by using new technologies.

“The project will be designed in such a way that it will be the cleanest gas project ever,” he said. The gas has some of “the lowest CO2 content in the world.”

Barbados PM Calls for Reform of Bretton Woods (2:20 pm)

Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley called for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to unlock more money for small island states and developing nations on the frontlines of the climate crisis. Mottley said the US should throw its weight behind changing IMF quotas that would unlock around $500 billion of so-called special drawing rights that could in turn unlock $5 trillion of private sector capital for climate finance.

Mottley also called for a levy on fossil fuel company profits whose proceeds would go straight into loss and damage and disaster and pandemic clauses in debt instruments that would allow countries like Barbados to put a pause on their debt repayments so they can repair their economies from any climate-induced damage.

“It is time for us to revisit Bretton woods,” Mottley said from the COP27 stage. “We need to look at ways to expand the lending that is available from billions to trillions. My friends, the time is running out on us.”

UAE Is Known as a ‘Responsible Supplier of Energy: MBZ (1:15 pm)

Oil and gas in the United Arab Emirates is “among the least carbon intensive” in the world, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the country said.

The United Arab Emirates is known as a “responsible supplier of energy,” he said. “We have been working towards diversifying our economy and to build capacities on renewables and clean energy.

“As we prepare to COP28 in Dubai in 2023, we will be focusing on supporting the implementation of the outcomes of the previous COPs and also to make sure that the first global stock take in the wake of the Paris Agreement.”

‘On a Highway to Hell’ Among Grim COP27 Headlines (1:02 pm)

António Guterres, the UN secretary general, said “we are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator,” according to The Guardian’s live blog of the conference.

“We are in the fight of our lives. And we are losing. Greenhouse gas emissions keep growing. Global temperatures keep rising. And our planet is fast approaching tipping points that will make climate chaos irreversible.”

African NGO Says Europe Is Using Africa as a ‘Gas Station’ (12:15 pm)

Mohamed Adow, a prominent activist and director of the energy and climate think tank Power Shift Africa, accused the EU of using the continent as a “gas station” as it seeks to end its dependence on Russian fossil fuels. EU leaders are set to speak at the COP27 conference on Monday.

Singling out German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in particular, Adow said that Europe’s dash for gas was threatening to lock Africa into polluting fossil fuels, rather than pursuing greener alternatives such as renewables. Germany and the EU have been trying to seek new gas supplies from countries like Algeria and Senegal, while Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson has encouraged the North African nation to conduct more gas exploration.

“Our continent is at a crossroads,” Adow said at a press conference alongside the Climate Action Network. “The message we want to send to Scholz as he comes here is that the days of colonialism are over. We won’t accept energy colonialism.”

Johnson Puts Trademark Boosterism to Work at COP (12:15 pm)

Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that the world risks learning the wrong lessons from the spike in energy prices due to Russia’s war in Ukraine, and that the “spirit of Glasgow” -- the last COP meeting held when he was still in power in 2021 -- is already being lost.

It was a typically bullish appearance by Johnson on the sidelines of the Sharm el-Sheikh meeting, as he tried to talk up his government’s investments in renewable energy and what he called the “great achievement” at COP26 on climate change funding and forestry protection.

At home, Johnson’s presence in Egypt is controversial and seen as an attempt to repair his tarnished image on the global stage. But as was so often the case when he was prime minister, Johnson found his boosterism was not a fix-all.

He faced awkward questions about the UK’s responsibility to pay climate reparations, and the apparent inconsistency in his promotion of climate goals while also supporting more North Sea drilling. And on his main theme of the “spirit of Glasgow,” even Johnson acknowledged that actual funding commitments are still “way short” of what was agreed, and that “I don’t see any sign of a reduction in the scale of destruction in the forests of the world.”

Lagarde Says ECB Closely Watching Impact of Climate Change (12:12 pm)

“Our primary objective is to keep prices stable,” European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde says. “That is the compass guiding every one of our actions, now more than ever. To deliver on this core responsibility, we need the full picture on all factors affecting inflation so that our policies remain effective.”

Bloomberg Announces Expansion of Coal Transition Program (11:40 am)

Michael Bloomberg, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions, announced Monday plans to support developing countries transition away from coal.

The effort will see Bloomberg Philanthropies partner with the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) to mobilize the flow of private capital to clean energy transition projects in emerging markets and developing countries. It will also provide technical assistance.

In 2019, Bloomberg committed $500 million to launch Beyond Carbon, a campaign aimed at closing the remaining coal-powered plants in the U.S. by 2030

“We’ve seen that it’s possible to expand access to clean, affordable energy and cut carbon emissions at the same time,” Bloomberg said in a statement, adding that “the expansion of our work in Africa, Asia, and Latin America will help more countries develop more clean power, faster.”

Michael Bloomberg is founder and owner of Bloomberg LP, parent of Bloomberg News.

US to Outline Carbon Credit Plans for Developing Nations (11:40 am)

The US is on track to outline this week initial plans for using new carbon credits to rapidly scale up financial investment in green energy projects in developing countries. The initiative follows months of talks by US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry with Wall Street and philanthropic groups.

The new framework is meant to be built out over the next year. That would allow time to develop program details, including environmental integrity provisions, said a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the plan is not yet public. There are also efforts to ensure any new carbon trading program is aligned with science-based targets and includes safeguards to ensure a just energy transition.

Any new carbon credit program would be greeted by skepticism. For years, carbon-market experts have warned that renewable-energy offsets are no longer fit for purpose. As solar and wind power have become the cheapest source of power in the vast majority of countries globally, it’s getting harder to prove that paying small sums as offset payments is causing those countries to stop the development of coal or gas power plants.

Norway’s Equinor Says There’s Too Much Green-Energy Bureaucracy (11:00 am)

“The time it takes to make these investments is too long,” Anders Opedal, CEO of Norwegian energy firm Equinor, said to Bloomberg TV, referring to the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm in the North Sea.

“It took eight years just to get the paperwork ready,” he said. “We see that all around the world -- the time for planning takes longer than the execution. This is where we need to attack. That’s why I’m here -- to discuss this with politicians.”

The world must continue investing in oil and natural gas, he said, to improve energy security. Still, companies and investors must put money into renewable energy at the same time to accelerate the transition to cleaner fuels, he said. Equinor is investing around $25 billion between 2021 and 2026 on renewables.

Countries Set to Follow up on Methane Pledge (11:00 am)

Countries are set to discuss their plans for cutting methane emissions from oil wells, agriculture and waste at a ministerial meeting on Nov. 17, a year after a global pledge to slash the greenhouse gas 30% by 2030.

The meeting is one of more than 20 methane-related events being held at COP27, as focus intensifies on a gas that’s much more potent but more short-lived in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. That means reductions can quickly yield results and help limit global temperature increases to the 1.5C target. 

Nations will also deliver updates on their progress in tackling methane releases from oil and gas wells during a separate session on Friday. The US Environmental Protection Agency is due to unveil the latest iteration of its plan to regulate methane emissions from fossil fuels.

IMF’s Georgieva Says Global Inflation May Be Nearing Its Peak (10:40)

The global surge in consumer prices may be close to the high point of the current cycle but might yet prove stubborn, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said.

“I’m not going to jump ahead of data, but it is very possible that we are peaking,” Georgieva said, just days before a report that will probably show US inflation for October stayed close to 8%. “We now see central banks very united on fighting inflation as a top priority and rightly so. If we don’t succeed, it would de-anchor and then the foundation for growth which is price stability is dented.”

--With assistance from Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Charles Daly, Lyubov Pronina, Tom Metcalf, Craig Stirling, Lin Noueihed, Saijel Kishan, Gautam Naik, Francine Lacqua and Yousef Gamal El-Din.

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