COP27 climate conference in Egypt: Ford School's Haverkamp comments

November 17, 2022

Global climate talks in Egypt are heading into the home stretch with many issues still unresolved. Negotiators from nearly 200 countries have gathered in Sharm el-Sheikh for the COP27 conference in an effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions and avoid the worst ravages of climate change. 

Jennifer Haverkamp is director of the Graham Sustainability Institute and a professor of practice at Michigan Law and the Ford School of Public Policy. She is also a former co-chair of the U-M President's Commission on Carbon Neutrality.

"Don’t expect to learn whether countries make any progress on funding the harms vulnerable countries are already suffering until the wee hours of the weekend," said Haverkamp, who is an environmental lawyer and a former ambassador and U.S. climate negotiator.

"Even for what this year should have been—a more routine 'implementation COP,' the urgency is so great that expectations were still high. Bright spots include Lula's (Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva) recommitment to protecting the Amazon and the restart of U.S.-China climate talks."