COP27 climate summit will test global resolve in the fight against war and inflation.

(Reuters)- An international climate summit starting next week in Egypt will test the planet's resolve to combat global warming, even as many of the biggest players are distracted by pressing crises ranging from war in Europe to rampant consumer inflation.

More than 30 delegates, including representatives from some 200 countries, will meet from November 6 to 18 in the coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss details on how to slow climate change and help those already feeling its impacts.

But with countries grappling with the fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, coupled with rising food and fuel prices and slowing economic growth, doubts are arising about whether they will act quickly and ambitiously enough to avert the worst effects of climate change.

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The tension in relations this year between the main emitters of greenhouse gases, China and the United States, is not a good omen, experts say.

A United Nations (UN) report released last week showed that most countries are behind schedule on their existing commitments to reduce carbon production, with global greenhouse gas emissions on track to increase by 10,6% by 2030 compared to 2010 levels.

Scientists say emissions must fall by 43% by that time to limit global warming to 1,5°C above pre-industrial temperatures, the limit above which climate change risks spiraling out of control.

Only 24 of the nearly 200 countries participating in the COP27 negotiations have submitted new or updated emissions reduction plans since last year's UN climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, although all have committed to doing so, according to the UN climate agency.

Alden Meyer, an international climate policy specialist at E3G, said that the strain on diplomatic ties between the United States and China over issues such as Taiwan and the war in Ukraine is an obstacle to global climate progress, noting that previous collaboration between the two helped propel climate negotiations forward.

Meanwhile, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has urged oil and gas companies to increase production to meet tight global markets, lower consumer prices, and offset supply disruptions linked to Russia's war in Ukraine, demonstrating how the energy crisis has shifted the policy priorities of a president who campaigned on a promise to quickly end the fossil fuel era.

The two-week UN negotiations in Egypt follow a year of wild climate disruptions around the world, as global warming takes its toll, including devastating floods in Pakistan, South Africa and Nigeria, heat waves in the Arctic and across Europe, and record droughts in the western United States and France.

The negotiations should address how these and other nations affected by climate change can be compensated by the wealthy countries that are accused of causing it. Other topics will include how international financial institutions like the World Bank can be reformed to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels.

Negotiations received a boost from Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's (PT) victory this Sunday in the second round of the presidential election, whose campaign denounced deforestation while calling for an international summit on the fate of the Amazon.

In his victory speech, Lula stated that "we are open to international cooperation to preserve the Amazon, whether in the form of investment or scientific research. But always under the leadership of Brazil, without ever renouncing our sovereignty."

The talks may also highlight natural gas, given its importance to the host continent. Oil-rich African countries argue that they have the right to develop their resources, especially as Europe struggles to find new suppliers to replace Russia.

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