{"id":577337,"date":"2022-11-20T04:02:28","date_gmt":"2022-11-20T04:02:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/11\/20\/this-morning-cop27-negotiators-are-pulling-another-all-nighter-in-search-of-a-climate-agreement\/"},"modified":"2022-11-20T04:02:28","modified_gmt":"2022-11-20T04:02:28","slug":"this-morning-cop27-negotiators-are-pulling-another-all-nighter-in-search-of-a-climate-agreement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/egypt\/2022\/11\/20\/this-morning-cop27-negotiators-are-pulling-another-all-nighter-in-search-of-a-climate-agreement\/","title":{"rendered":"THIS MORNING: COP27 negotiators are pulling another all-nighter in search of a climate agreement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, wonderful people \u2014 we hope the weekend was kind to you <\/strong>and that you\u2019re looking forward to a productive workweek. We would love a few days of downtime after the madness of COP27, but (a) negotiations on a climate agreement are still continuing in Sharm, (b) the World Cup kicks off this week, and (c) we have just 42 days left in 2022.<\/p>\n

CLIMATE TALKS CONTINUE-<\/strong><\/p>\n

Climate negotiators have been up all night and are still trying to break the <\/strong>stalemate this morning:<\/strong> Countries appear to have made a significant breakthrough on \u201closs and damage\u201d (aka compensating countries that are vulnerable to climate change) but are seemingly no closer to compromise over reducing emissions. We have the details on the current state of play in this morning\u2019s news well, below.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re already on the second day of overtime, but how long could the talks last?<\/strong> Egypt\u2019s chief negotiator, Amb Mohamed Nasr, said in a televised interview last night that he expects the closing session to start at 11am or 12pm today and run for four or five hours (watch, runtime: 12:12<\/a>).<\/p>\n

What we know right now: A new draft agreement was presented to an open plenary <\/strong>session for debate at 4:10am this morning<\/strong>, only for COP27 President Sameh Shoukry to suspend the session for half an hour at Switzerland\u2019s request, according to Bloomberg\u2019s live coverage<\/a>. \u201cI implore you to adopt the draft decision I will present to you,\u201d Shoukry told the plenary session. \u201cThe world is watching.\u201d<\/p>\n

^^ We have the rundown on the weekend in Sharm in this morning\u2019s news well, below.<\/p>\n

THE TALKS ARE THE BIG STORY in the global business press this morning<\/strong>. Most outlets are leading with news of an apparent breakthrough agreement on loss and damage, then go on to point out that we\u2019re in overtime on talks to \u201ckeep 1.5 alive\u201d by agreeing to a warming target. See Financial Times<\/a> | Wall Street Journal<\/a> | Reuters<\/a> | Bloomberg<\/a>.<\/p>\n

(The other big story this morning: Elon Musk is letting Agent Orange back on Twitter<\/strong> \u2014 the news leads the front pages of Axios<\/a> and Politico<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

THE WORLD CUP STARTS TODAY-<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a> The 2022 World Cup starts this afternoon:<\/strong> Qatar and Ecuador will get the 2022 World Cup underway when they kick off the opening game of the tournament at Al Bayt Stadium at 18:00 CLT.<\/p>\n

The 60k-capacity stadium will also host the tournament\u2019s opening ceremony at 16:00 <\/strong>CLT. <\/strong>K-pop star Jungkook<\/a> and Fahad Al Kubaisi will perform. Nicki Minaj, Maluma and Myriam Fares performed yesterday in the fan zone.<\/p>\n

Why couldn\u2019t we have played like this before?<\/strong> Egypt beat the Belgians (ranked #2 in the world) 2-1 in a pre-tournament friendly in Kuwait on Friday. Goals from Mostafa Mohamed in the 33rd minute and Mahmoud Trezeguet just seconds into the second half put the Pharaohs 2-0 up against one of the strongest teams in the tournament before Lois Openda got one back late in the game.<\/p>\n

Gianni Infantino needs to fire his PR team<\/strong> because clearly nobody told the Fifa president that unhinged press conferences are rarely effective at taking the heat out of a controversy. In a 57-minute rant on the eve of the World Cup, Infantino railed against Qatar\u2019s critics in the Western media, accusing them of hypocrisy using strange culture war rhetoric, and drawing parallels with his experience as a red-haired Italian kid to migrant workers and persecuted members of the LGBT community. The tournament in Qatar has been mired in controversy in the West, where it has received almost universally negative coverage due to the host nation\u2019s mistreatment of migrant workers, LGBTQ rights and others.<\/p>\n

Infantino\u2019s controversial press conference got a lot of ink from the foreign press:<\/strong> Bloomberg<\/a> | Reuters<\/a> | NPR<\/a> | CNN<\/a> and others.<\/p>\n

Going to the World Cup? You can enter Egypt without paying visa fees. <\/strong>Ministers decided to waive visa fees for holders of the Hayya card \u2014 Qatar\u2019s entry permit for tournament attendees \u2014 in a bid to capitalize on the uptick of visitors to the region, cabinet said in a statement<\/a> Wednesday.<\/p>\n

**JOIN US FOR OUR <\/strong>ENTERPRISE FANTASY WORLD CUP LEAGUE<\/a><\/strong>.<\/strong> Sign up with the code SZJ507VP to compete against other members of the Enterprise community. The top three finishers will take home something special from us.<\/p>\n

We have everything you need to know about the World Cup in our latest edition of <\/strong>Your Wealth<\/a><\/strong>, which was out this Friday.<\/p>\n

RUMORS ARE FLYING-<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, some business rumors here at home:<\/p>\n

<\/a> RUMOR HAS IT #1- Is the Qatar Investment Authority eyeing Le Meridien <\/strong>Heliopolis?<\/strong> That\u2019s according to Al Shorouk<\/a>, which cited unnamed sources yesterday as saying the Gulf state\u2019s sovereign wealth fund is looking to team up with French hospitality giant Accor to acquire the shuttered hotel. The QIA is also in advanced talks to acquire one or more international schools in the Greater Cairo Area, the newspaper also claims.<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND- <\/strong>The Qataris have for a while now been in talks with the Madbouly government to acquire stakes in state-owned companies after pledging earlier this year to invest USD 5 bn<\/a> here as part of a regional effort to provide Egypt with much-needed foreign currency. With talks ongoing and no transactions yet closed, QIA deposited earlier this month<\/a> USD 1 bn with the Central Bank of Egypt.<\/p>\n

#2- Did Al Safy Group just take a majority stake in the owner of the Ramses Hilton?<\/strong> Also in Al Shorouk<\/a>: Has Egyptian conglomerate Al Safy Group<\/a> has acquired 53% of the Arab International Company for Hotels and Tourism for EGP 4 bn? The newspaper quotes what it says are sources familiar with the transaction that Al Safi bought stakes held by several regional SWFs, including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority , the Libyan Investment Authority, and the Kuwait Investment Authority. The Arab International Company for Hotels and Tourism reportedly owns six hotels across Cairo, the Red Sea and Port Said.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Al Safy? <\/strong>The retail-heavy group distributes Samsung and Xiaomi phones as well as Wunder chocolates and operates 300 retail stores across Egypt, including 120 Orange- and >70 Xiaomi-branded stores. It owns the Lighthouse lighting and also has investments or activities in financial services, real estate, and commodities.<\/p>\n

THIS WEEK<\/strong> IN THE HOUSE- <\/strong><\/p>\n

Our elected representatives will be back in business today after a two-week break for COP27:<\/p>\n