{O/C} This year's U.N. climate conference -- COP27 -- is now underway in the Egyptian city of Sharm El-Sheikh.
But such hurdles as the Ukraine crisis and the U.S. mid-terms might be overshadowing climate efforts.
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COP27 President Sameh Shoukry opened the two week COP27 climate conference starting with the gripping climate disasters over the year.
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SAMEH SHOUKRY, Voice of Interpretor, COP27 President:
We have witnessed during this year painful events in Pakistan and the African continent and in various parts of Europe and America.
All these events and their destruction and impact represent a lesson to be learned and is sounding alarm all over the planet.
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Nearly fifty heads of state took the stage one-by-one on Monday to drum up support for concrete climate efforts.
Pakistani Prime Minister and COP27 Vice President Shehbaz Sharif, who witnessed his country's massive summer flooding disaster first-hand, will also be telling his story.
Members will also discuss whether compensation should be offered to the destitute suffering the climate disaster.
Playing host to the climate summit, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-sisi said the planet had become a world of suffering, and called for everyone to make every second count.
But none more fiery than United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who warned the Rubicon is about to be crossed.
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ANTONIO GUTERRES, United Nations Secretary-general:
We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot still on the accelerator.
{VO}
With conflicts like the Ukraine invasion and wicked inflation still wreaking havoc, the U.N. chief then resorted to a call for unity.
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We must of course work together to support peace efforts and end the tremendous suffering.
I am calling for a historic Pact between developed and developing economies, especially developed and emerging economies -- a Climate Solidarity Pact.
A Pact in which all countries make an extra effort to reduce emissions this decade in line with the 1.5-degree goal.
Humanity has a choice -- cooperate or perish.
It is either a Climate Solidarity Pact, or a Collective Suicide Pact.
{VO}
Most participants are meeting on Monday and Tuesday amid the electrifying U.S. mid-terms.
While most speakers hail from other African nations, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will be speaking later today.
U.S. President Joe Biden will be arriving days later because of the mid-terms, while Russian President Vladimir Putin is conspicuously absent.
This as President Xi Jinping will be represented by an envoy at the conference.
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