Cyrene Grand Hotel, Sharm el-Sheikh. Mr.Rosewater, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Egyptians Preparing Sharm el-Sheikh for the COP27 Conference

Guest essay by Eric Worrall

Bet that won’t be a teleconference event – US Secretary of State John Kerry has flown into Egypt, to make sure everything is ready.

Egypt prepares to host the UN climate change summit

By Africanews 
EGYPT

The United States and Egypt on Monday launched a joint work group to prepare for the next U.N. climate change summit which the Middle Eastern country will host in November, the American envoy for climate said.

U.S. envoy John Kerry said the group’s main task is working on the COP27 conference in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

He said Egypt has already taken many steps in the preparation for the summit.

Kerry said other world tensions, including the ongoing Ukraine crisis, “… does not change the reality of what is happening every day with respect to our climate. That is a national, international threat for all of us.”

He spoke at a news conference in Cairo along with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry. Neither official took questions from reporters.

Read more: https://www.africanews.com/2022/02/22/egypt-prepares-to-host-the-un-climate-change-summit/

I once interviewed for a contract sorting out the software of a Sharm el-Sheik hotel.

When we got to money, they offered less than market rate. So I asked about more money.

They said they couldn’t offer more money, but they made it pretty clear there would be other benefits.

I’m guessing the “other benefits” would have cost the hotel less than the additional money I requested. At that point I decided not to continue negotiations.

I suspect Sharm el-Sheik event will be one of the more popular COP conference venues.

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Jock
February 22, 2022 2:11 am

Dear God, another one? We just got over the last one!

John the Econ
Reply to  Jock
February 22, 2022 6:38 am

…and everyone went home and fired up their coal plants.

These things definitely aren’t doing anything to reduce CO2 emissions, especially considering all the extra jetting about that it seems to require of John Kerry.

MarkW
Reply to  Jock
February 22, 2022 8:43 am

At least this one is less likely to be wet and dreary.

John Hultquist
Reply to  Jock
February 22, 2022 9:46 am
yirgach
Reply to  John Hultquist
February 22, 2022 10:16 am

Gentlemen, start your expense accounts!

John the Econ
Reply to  John Hultquist
February 22, 2022 10:53 am

One would almost suspect that “climate conferences” were an industry unto themselves.

Reply to  Jock
February 22, 2022 11:31 am

You need the next jab to go on being afraid…

Ed Zuiderwijk
February 22, 2022 2:19 am

Well, after all that rain at Glasgow they deserve a little sunshine, don’t they?

fretslider
February 22, 2022 2:31 am

“ John Kerry has flown into Egypt, to make sure everything is ready.”

It’s only February, Glasgow was clearly a total dud – although it had plenty of ‘other benefits’

I predict Kerry will fly to Egypt a few times at least as he covers the globe in his private Heinz baked bean can

Alan the Brit
Reply to  fretslider
February 22, 2022 5:25 am

Is that a private Heinz baked bean can sponsored by taxpayers cash?

fretslider
Reply to  Alan the Brit
February 22, 2022 7:02 am

Knowing Kerry the US taxpayer is not without a cash input – somewhere,

John Hultquist
Reply to  Alan the Brit
February 22, 2022 10:08 am

John Forbes Kerry is from: The Forbes family is one of the components of the Boston Brahmins — they are a wealthy extended American family long prominent in Boston, Massachusetts. The family’s fortune originates from trading opium and tea between North America and China in the 19th century

The connection to Heinz money is more legitimate and recent. Even so, that connection to the Kraft Heinz (KHC) Company is irrelevant because Kerry’s families have had their own money.

yirgach
Reply to  John Hultquist
February 22, 2022 10:18 am

I remember when they hooked up, she was referred to as “a two legged ATM”.

TonyL
Reply to  fretslider
February 22, 2022 7:30 am

This is going to be an amazing, historic first.
John Kerry goes to Sharm el-Sheikh and the “Kerry Effect” kicks in.it snows in Sharm el-Sheikh. Global Warming.

Clyde Spencer
Reply to  TonyL
February 22, 2022 11:03 am

We can only hope!

Patrick B
Reply to  fretslider
February 22, 2022 4:23 pm

He’s flying US government planes. His wife keeps her jet.

garboard
February 22, 2022 2:33 am

among cruising sailors , egypt has the reputation of having the most corrupt , larcenous bureaucracy .

patrick healy
Reply to  garboard
February 22, 2022 6:54 am

A very old sailor here. We used to enjoy the trips through Suez. We looked forward to the Bum boats (local huxters coming out to sell their wares)
A not so untrue joke used to be “Do you want giggy gig Johnnie
See I got my sister/aunt/mother/granny here”
Ah they were the days.

alastair gray
Reply to  garboard
February 22, 2022 8:38 am

If you are American that is a bit rich considering the likes of Kerry the Bean and Go-Joe Brandon. If you are Brit then Fergie and Prince Chuck take thebiscuit

Reply to  garboard
February 22, 2022 12:29 pm

A totally deserved reputation, along with terrible human rights abuse and the obligatory female genital mutilation.

More fun facts (2019):
Share of primary energy from fossil fuels 95.44%
Share of primary energy from solar 0.84%
Share of deaths attributed to outdoor air pollution 15.7%
OurWorldInData.org

February 22, 2022 3:19 am

are there lots of solar panels in Egypt?

fretslider
Reply to  Joseph Zorzin
February 22, 2022 3:34 am

There’s lots of silicon dioxide…

griff
Reply to  Joseph Zorzin
February 22, 2022 5:42 am

yes. The Benban solar park is said to be the world’s largest…

Reply to  griff
February 22, 2022 6:06 am

Kewl griff. Climate stabilisation here we come, whooo hooo.

LdB
Reply to  griff
February 22, 2022 6:43 am

Yes all Egyptian financed debt with a 25 year fixed energy sale price in US dollars .. what could possibly go wrong 🙂

Reply to  griff
February 22, 2022 7:27 am

Tell me, how do those PV panels fare in sandstorms?

MarkW
Reply to  Right-Handed Shark
February 22, 2022 8:46 am

Congress has banned sandstorms near solar parks.

Reply to  Right-Handed Shark
February 22, 2022 11:40 am

A study published a few years ago found output decreased by 35% in one month without constant removal of dust.

MarkW
Reply to  griff
February 22, 2022 8:46 am

Each park is the largest, and all children are above average.

Reply to  griff
February 22, 2022 11:38 am
Reply to  griff
February 22, 2022 5:05 pm

Hang panels on the Pyramids…the Pharohs would approve…at least they can’t object…just don’t bill me…..bill the giffter.

Ed Zuiderwijk
Reply to  Joseph Zorzin
February 22, 2022 8:19 am

Not as many as coffee beans in Brazil.

mark from the midwest
February 22, 2022 3:34 am

It’s been my experience that the nicer the venue the less productive the conference. Never been to anything in Vegas where anything was accomplished. Most productive conference ever, from a business point of view, was in Indianapolis.

Reply to  mark from the midwest
February 22, 2022 4:58 am

It’s been my experience that the nicer the venue the less productive the conference.

Are you saying COP26 was a success? 😉

mark from the midwest
Reply to  Redge
February 22, 2022 7:41 am

More like COP26 was such a failure that COP27 could be one of the great dumpster fires of all time.

alastair gray
Reply to  mark from the midwest
February 22, 2022 8:40 am

So I guess Glasgow is the exception that makes the rule

Vuk
February 22, 2022 3:48 am

“Germany has ordered an immediate halt to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in response to the incursion of Russian tanks into eastern Ukraine, ”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/02/22/russia-invasion-ukraine-war-putin-crisis-latest-news2/
Chancellor Scholz has asked for an assessment how Germany can continue to have sufficient energy without depending on Russia,

Bruce Cobb
Reply to  Vuk
February 22, 2022 4:46 am

More unaffordable unreliable Ruinables should do the trick.

Peter W
Reply to  Bruce Cobb
February 22, 2022 5:01 am

I am sure solar will work exceptionally well there.

griff
Reply to  Peter W
February 22, 2022 5:49 am

solar works well in Germany…

mid afternoon in February currently and they are getting 11GW.

fretslider
Reply to  griff
February 22, 2022 7:06 am

Presumably you have a link to that, griff?

Why not share it with us?

Or is it another wet dream?

Reply to  fretslider
February 22, 2022 8:42 am

Fretslider, Griff is correct in his claim. it was as high as 12.5GW earlier. But in typical green fashion he neglected to mention that it only lasts a couple of hours, three at most. The demand about 80GW so about 15% of demand for an hour or two.

He’ll come back and say wind was wonderful but looking on the link below you can see how awful it is. It might be an interesting watch now that they’ve no nuclear and this windy spell won’t last forever*.

https://energy-charts.info/?l=en&c=DE

  • Fencers and roofers where I am are hoping that there are more Dudley, Eunice and Franklin events again next year.
fretslider
Reply to  Ben Vorlich
February 22, 2022 8:56 am

He could have provided a source, Ben, but he chose not to.

In 1987 everyone scammed the insurance companies for ‘roof repairs’. My house needed four or five slates but it ended up being quite a lot more than that on paper.

Reply to  griff
February 22, 2022 8:17 am

Really?

This is yesterdays solar production in Germany, it’s a very typical day at this time of year.

It doesn’t work very well in the morning, same in the afternoon, and quite frankly at night it doesn’t seem to work at all!

solar feb germany.png
Reply to  Climate believer
February 22, 2022 8:37 am

Thanks for some actual data. Total capacity 58.4, actual output slightl over 12. Not so good.

Clyde Spencer
Reply to  Climate believer
February 22, 2022 11:17 am

It doesn’t work at night? What’s wrong? Did they build it upside down?

MarkW
Reply to  griff
February 22, 2022 8:48 am

It works, you haven’t proven it works well. What is the installed base that is producing that measly 11GW?

Reply to  griff
February 22, 2022 10:56 am

At night?

Clyde Spencer
Reply to  griff
February 22, 2022 11:15 am

There are always two sides to a story. When you only present one side, you are telling a half-truth. You do that all the time. Have you no shame?

Reply to  griff
February 22, 2022 5:09 pm

Fine with me….I don’t live in Germany ….if foolish people want to pay huge electric bills for fake reasons – I don’t care.

griff
Reply to  Vuk
February 22, 2022 5:42 am

since the pipeline isn’t yet open, I guess they’ll continue as they have done up till now…

Vuk
Reply to  griff
February 22, 2022 6:04 am

all depends what happen to the other gas pipelines going to the west Europe.
comment image

Reply to  griff
February 22, 2022 8:44 am

Griff,
everything is in place and ready to, it just hasn’t been signed off.

Reply to  Ben Vorlich
February 22, 2022 9:13 am

Nice picture of you in The Herald today, Ben.

Reply to  griff
February 22, 2022 11:44 am

No, they are about to close down even more more of their baseload nuclear.

Reply to  griff
February 22, 2022 5:12 pm

Putin has torn away the mask and revealed himself as another Hitler/Stalin type…what could go wrong? That is one massive coal deal he is working on with his pal Xi Jinping.

Reply to  Vuk
February 22, 2022 6:10 am

Awwww, now there’s a big surprise. Germany is involved in this “crisis”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFjEvl43zYY

Watch the whole thing

MarkW
Reply to  Vuk
February 22, 2022 8:50 am

No doubt bonbon will soon pipe up to tell us that the US convinced Moscow to invade in order to force Europe to buy US natural gas.

Clyde Spencer
Reply to  MarkW
February 22, 2022 11:19 am

How else is Hunter going to scrape by unless his daddy pulls some strings?

MarkW
Reply to  bonbon
February 23, 2022 7:07 am

Speaking of simpletons, here comes bonbon.

Tom Abbott
Reply to  Vuk
February 22, 2022 9:17 am

“Chancellor Scholz has asked for an assessment how Germany can continue to have sufficient energy without depending on Russia,”

The German politicians should have been asking this question a long time ago.

One course of action to get sufficient energy would be to continue running Germany’s nuclear powerplants until the dust settles and we see what the future is going to look like.

yirgach
Reply to  Vuk
February 22, 2022 10:22 am

Reminds me of that scene from Blazing Saddles where the Sheriff holds a gun to his head…

DiggerUK
February 22, 2022 3:52 am

I can’t remember which election it was that had just been announced in the UK, but I do remember the response from the women who, when asked by a tv crew, what her reaction was to the news responded with a now famous meme causing comment…. “What!? Not another one!?”

COP27 is going to be on the back foot from the get go. It shouldn’t be happening, we’re all supposed to die.
Maybe it will go down as a resurrection event…_

UK citizens can still sign and circulate a petition to question the need for NetZero by 2050 before it’s too late…_
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/599602

Reply to  DiggerUK
February 22, 2022 8:46 am

This one?

glenn holdcroft
February 22, 2022 4:00 am

Oh , so the weather is more dangerous to civilisation than Putin and Xi put together , any excuse for a nice taxpayer funded fly around and resort holidays .
Lets get those electric tanks rolling 🙂

Alex
February 22, 2022 4:11 am

Another $250,000,000 spent on a nothing burger, only for the world’s elite to enjoy a good holiday on our dime.

COP 27 means: 27 x $250,000,000 = $675,000,000, spent on holidays by our politicians and their hangers-on every year. Meanwhile, the Earth’s temperature is currently just 0.03 C above the 30-year average.

This works out at $ 22,500,000,000 per degree centigrade rise.

Old Gobie Jumper
Reply to  Alex
February 22, 2022 5:01 am

I think COP stands for “CORUPT OLIGARCH PARTY”.

Bruce Cobb
Reply to  Old Gobie Jumper
February 22, 2022 6:37 am

Cornucopia Of Pariahs?

MarkW
Reply to  Bruce Cobb
February 22, 2022 8:52 am

Cornucopia of Parasites

brentc
Reply to  MarkW
February 22, 2022 9:43 am

Congregation Of Phuckwits

Reply to  brentc
February 22, 2022 11:23 am

Funniest thread of the year so far.

Reply to  Alex
February 22, 2022 6:46 am

I think you’re missing a zero in the first calculation. 27x$250M = $6.75B. Look, it’s WORSE than we thought!

Reply to  Alex
February 22, 2022 9:47 am

Nevermind.

Reply to  Alex
February 22, 2022 10:34 am

Nothing Burger and a Sham Shake. You want Kerry Fries with that?

Bruce Cobb
February 22, 2022 4:15 am

Yes. Despite everything else happening, as in actual problems, the blah-blah blahbitty-blah Climate Clown Show must go on.

February 22, 2022 4:20 am

Talking of “other benefits” and Glasgow in the same breath, I remember being offered a bottle of King Victoria Whiskey in Port Said. I was a liittle surprised that it hadn’t eaten its way out of the bottle. If it is still around, maybe Mr. Kerry can use it to fuel his private Heinz baked bean can.

February 22, 2022 4:51 am

Wonder if the choice of location was in any way influenced by this, just across the water.

BBC – Project Neom

Notice how they’re planning on using greenhouses to grow their food and stuff.
Was there something wrong with planting their crops outdoors – in all that lovely, fertile and near endlessly abundant desert soil?

Neom map.JPG
MarkW
Reply to  Peta of Newark
February 22, 2022 8:56 am

Perhaps they want to conserve water? After all it’s a desert because it lacks water.

Reply to  Peta of Newark
February 22, 2022 10:00 am

Growing in greenhouses allows for CO2 enrichment to be more effiecient.

Reply to  Peta of Newark
February 22, 2022 11:51 am

maybe they want air conditioned greenhouses?

Reply to  AndyHce
February 22, 2022 11:54 am

NEOM is not about building a smart city, it is about building the first cognitive city, where world-class technology is fueled with data and intelligence to interact seamlessly with its population. Joseph Bradley Head of Technology and Digital Keep me informed

Nest level surveillance of all civilians?

Scissor
February 22, 2022 5:05 am

Throw in a James Taylor performance and you’ve got a deal.

February 22, 2022 6:03 am

Does Greta know how to sing “you can stick your climate crisis up your arse!” in Arabic?

fretslider
Reply to  Right-Handed Shark
February 22, 2022 7:07 am

She has superpowers. She’ll learn.

ResourceGuy
Reply to  Right-Handed Shark
February 23, 2022 5:10 pm

Put her under a burqa.

February 22, 2022 6:22 am

the seriousness of the crisis is always demonstrated by the luxury of the accommodations

fretslider
Reply to  TallDave
February 22, 2022 7:08 am

Not to mention the mode of transport…

(They’ll need a bigger airport)

John Bell
February 22, 2022 7:14 am

How many solar panels and wind turbines does it take to make the energy required for each COP?

fretslider
Reply to  John Bell
February 22, 2022 7:55 am

A good question. One should laso ask how many diesel generators does it take

“A shortage of coal powered EV charging points has allegedly forced COP26 organisers to deploy diesel generators, though they plan to fuel the generators using recycled chip fat.”

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2021/10/24/more-embarrassment-cop26-luxury-evs-to-be-recharged-using-diesel-generators/

Do Egyptians eat a lot of chips?

jeffery p
Reply to  John Bell
February 22, 2022 8:06 am

How about we disconnect the venue from the grid and only use green power?

February 22, 2022 7:16 am

Can’t wait for the snow fall in Egypt next year!

ResourceGuy
February 22, 2022 7:22 am

Get ready for the ramp up of competing themes. Will it be a) CO2 causes wars, b) GW causes climate refugees, or c) rising seas will swamp us at resorts like this one? Who will decide the climate compensation for Hamas, Hezbollah, and ISIS?

oeman 50
February 22, 2022 7:58 am

I think they will have to change the name to “Sham el-Sheik.”

fretslider
Reply to  oeman 50
February 22, 2022 8:31 am

Not Scam el-Sheik?

MarkW
February 22, 2022 8:43 am

They said they couldn’t offer more money, but they made it pretty clear there would be other benefits.

Unless they are talking about food, those would be excellent blackmail opportunities.

ResourceGuy
February 22, 2022 9:21 am

It’s a favorite spot for UN staffers.

February 22, 2022 9:31 am

From the above quoted excerpt of the PR blip from http://www.africanews.com:

“U.S. envoy John Kerry said the group’s main task is working on the COP27 conference in Egypt’s Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.”

I have no doubt whatsoever that a large part of that “working on” involves establishing how much money the US will give to Egypt to make COP27 “successful”. After all, most bureaucrats just can’t be leaders in fighting climate change without the finest hors d’oeuvres, wines, entertainment, and accommodations.

Well, at least Kerry doesn’t have anything better to do with his time.

Art
February 22, 2022 9:43 am

But…but…but last time they said it was the last chance to save the planet, so that means there’s no point for another meeting because either the planet is saved or it’s too late.

Jeff Reppun
February 22, 2022 10:03 am

I still laugh at this part of a speech Kerry gave in 2014 at a climate conference in Indonesia, speaking as the US Secretary of State, describing atmospheric CO2.

“Try and picture a very thin layer of gases – a quarter-inch, half an inch, somewhere in that vicinity – that’s how thick it is. It’s in our atmosphere. It’s way up there at the edge of the atmosphere. And for millions of years – literally millions of years – we know that layer has acted like a thermal blanket for the planet – trapping the sun’s heat and warming the surface of the Earth to the ideal, life-sustaining temperature. Average temperature of the Earth has been about 57 degrees Fahrenheit, which keeps life going. Life itself on Earth exists because of the so-called greenhouse effect. But in modern times, as human beings have emitted gases into the air that come from all the things we do, that blanket has grown thicker and it traps more and more heat beneath it, raising the temperature of the planet. It’s called the greenhouse effect because it works exactly like a greenhouse in which you grow a lot of the fruit that you eat here.”

Remarks on Climate Change (state.gov)

You would think he would have someone, with the barest modicum of scientific knowledge, would check his speech.

Clyde Spencer
Reply to  Jeff Reppun
February 22, 2022 11:27 am

You don’t know what you don’t know.

Reply to  Jeff Reppun
February 22, 2022 12:42 pm

Who the hell let him come out with that weapons grade twaddle?

February 22, 2022 10:52 am

Just imagine the real world outside COP27 –
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz ordered to stop the certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Well, welcome to the new world, in which Europeans will soon pay €2,000 per thousand cubic meters of gas!” Russian President Medvedev wrote in a half-ironic Twitter post.
Does anyone understand what this means?
FLOP27 >= 2 x FLOP26 for the Math challenged…

Reply to  bonbon
February 22, 2022 2:52 pm

Qatar Says It Can’t Replace Russian Gas Supplies To Europe
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/qatar-says-it-cant-replace-russian-gas-supplies-europe

FT got it right.
“But while Europe may be living in some idealized universe where all of its energy needs can be met by LNG exports from the US, even an armada of tankers would not come anywhere near close to replacing Russian output.”

Result of this tantrum, is EU voter’s are being screwed – a cheap lowlife Heist by any other name.
Free-lunch, sorry Free-Trade, for US LNG anyone?

Warning – not for the weak-kneed :
The Birth of the Baby Twins: Russia’s Strategic Swing Drives NATOstan Nuts

https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2022/02/22/the-birth-of-the-baby-twins-russias-strategic-swing-drives-natostan-nuts/

ResourceGuy
February 22, 2022 11:32 am

Yes, keep it remote and safely away from the locals and reality.

Joe Chang
February 22, 2022 12:42 pm

They have make sure the airport can accommodate all the private jet’s, and big new air conditioners are installed in the big hotel suites and private houses

February 22, 2022 12:42 pm

I presume the delegates will all be getting there by public transport.
Or walking.

john Reistroffer
February 22, 2022 3:02 pm

Change of strategy from the last time around.
Move the conference someplace real hot. Maybe the AC will go out at the hotel, and convince everyone that the world isn’t getting warmer….it’s getting hotter!

Olen
February 22, 2022 4:23 pm

Looks like a great place to kick back and look important.

4 Eyes
February 22, 2022 4:51 pm

Every single attendee will use (because they need to) fossil fuels to get there. No-one will be able to ride their bicycle or walk to the daily talk fests. There is talk about going to renewable electricity at Sharm el-sheihk. Picking a place that is already powered totally by the sun and the wind would be smarter but I am not sure if there are any resorts anywhere of sufficient quality for these free loaders that are 100% renewably powered.

gamecock
February 25, 2022 8:41 am

Can you get a drink at Cyrene Grand Hotel?

Reply to  gamecock
March 5, 2022 1:23 am

What is the exact venue. We need to book a small meeting room in the venue. Any advice?