Good morning. World leaders – minus Anthony Albanese – are gathering in Egypt for the Cop27 climate summit amid apocalyptic warnings about the need for action. Addressing the opening ceremony overnight, the UN chief, António Guterres, said we are on the “highway to climate hell” with our foot on the accelerator, while Al Gore warned about the “culture of death” spawned by our reliance on fossil fuels. When the speeches are all done, negotiators will try to thrash out a deal over the next two weeks with compensation for developing countries hit by natural disasters likely to be one of the main sticking points.
The cost of living crisis affecting many countries will also complicate the talks, and in Australia that means more people are getting into debt, relying on enticing forms of credit to pay bills. We report on the impact of buy now, pay later schemes, as well as the emotional letter home written by an Australian man who fears he could die behind bars in Iraq.
