Cop27: ending war in Ukraine necessary to tackle climate crisis, Zelenskiy says

He made clear that the war in Ukraine was a problem not just for his own country but the world at large, and drew direct parallels with the climate crisis.

At Cop27, poor countries are calling for more financial assistance from the rich world to help them cope with the effects of extreme weather, and their negotiators will spend the rest of the fortnight trying to reach a settlement that will allow for such funds.

They want more funding for what is known in the UN talks as loss and damage, in order to rescue and rebuild their economies, as well as social and physical infrastructure, after climate-related disasters.

The devastating floods in Pakistan this summer have been held up as an example of the loss and damage that developing countries are already suffering as a result of climate breakdown.

Elsewhere, the family of the jailed British-Egyptian democracy activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, who is on hunger strike, raised concerns that he may be force-fed in prison. He was due to be on his third day of refusing food and water and his family have requested evidence that he is still alive, but Egyptian officials have not provided any information about his health.

Additional reporting by Ruth Michaelson