The U.N. is calling on nations to agree to a historic new agreement at the COP27 climate summit, which opens in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Sunday. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said Thursday nations will face climate catastrophe unless they rapidly deliver on commitments made at the 2015 Paris climate summit.  

Secretary-General António Guterres: “COP27 must be the place to rebuild trust and reestablish the ambition needed to avoid driving our planet over the climate cliff. In the last few weeks, report after report has painted a clear and bleak picture.”

In one new report, UNESCO warns one-third of the glaciers that have been declared World Heritage sites will disappear by 2050, even if nations take dramatic action to curb emissions. That includes glaciers in Yosemite National Park in California and Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

Meanwhile, the U.N.’s Environment Program warns in a new report that wealthy countries are falling far short of their commitments to help communities adapt to a warming world. The report finds the cost of adapting to climate change could top a half-trillion dollars annually by mid-century — dwarfing the less than $30 billion countries have so far received to adapt to the climate crisis.