THE world is standing at a crossroad as killer floods, fires and famine destroy peoples lives, according to one of the leaders of the Climate Justice Coalition.

Over 40,000 people from nearly 200 countries are expected to gather from tomorrow in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt.

Delegates at the conference, themed “climate implementation,” will come under pressure from NGOs and the global South at the 13-day event to deliver on the promises they have made at previous gatherings.

Asad Rehman, director of War on Want and co-founder of the Climate Justice Coalition, said: “Pakistan, Nigeria, and Kenya are just the latest to face the realities of extreme weather events fuelled by structural inequalities rooted in systems of injustice that since colonialism have been baked into the global economy. 

“Today’s trade, tax and debt policies continue to loot the global South of $2 trillion each year and prevent countries of the global South being able to protect their citizens.”

The UN predicts that global warming will go well beyond the 1.5°C that scientists say is the minimum. Instead, temperatures could rise by as much as a dangerous 3°C.

Increases of this level will leave many countries of the global South facing increased hunger, poverty and inequality. 

Mr Rehman said: “Countries like the UK like to talk tough on climate but are expanding fossil fuels and then refusing to accept liability for causing climate disasters. 

“For many in the global South the key red line at Cop27 will be the issue of loss and damage. Countries of the global South want rich countries to pay reparations for the climate violence.

“At Cop27 the lines of climate apartheid are being drawn — and the poor, those whose skins are black and brown will be left to burn or drown.”

Mr Rehman warned: “Only a global movement that has internationalism and solidarity at its heart — a new anti-imperialist movement that connects climate to inequality and the failed model of neoliberal capital — can stop us spiralling into catastrophe.”

There are mobilisations across Britain on November 12 which aim to unite trade unions and the climate movement against the climate emergency and the cost-of-living crisis.

Egyptian security forces have clamped down on opposition in the run-up to the conference by arresting 323 activists linked to a call to protest against the government during Cop27.