What you need to know before COP27

‍Reminder:

• COP27 stands for the 27^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, taking place each year since 1995.
• At COP21 in 2015 in Paris, the “Paris Agreement" was reached and has been widely proclaimed as a historic deal and one that will inevitably lead to decarbonisation. Current climate actions are still striving to align with this agreement.

Last year's COP in Glasgow was a summit full of decisions, suprises, pledges and mixed feelings ending on a rather tense and emotional note, as Alok Sharma, president of the COP26, held back tears as he accepted India’s last-minute motion to weaken the summit’s pledge to “phase out” coal. Viewed by some as "suprisingly productive" (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik) and by others as festival of hypocrisy (Greenpeace EU, 2021) and beautiful words, it seems the summit is still far from having the impact that many wished for.

Where are we now?

The World Resources Institute has recently published a progress report on the delivery of the COP26 climate promises. Regrettably, it showed that the goals and promises from 2021 are still far from being met, and the global climate disasters of 2022 attest that the world is getting dangerously close to the 1.5°C global warming barrier (see the most recent assessment of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)).

This year's "Conference Of the Parties" takes place on the African continent, with a pre-COP 27 event that took place on October 3-5 2022 in Kinshasa, Congo and the COP27 taking place on November 7-18, 2022 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. A country choice full of environmental meaning, as both are already affected by climate change presenting challenges for agricultural and foraging populations in the Congo Basin (UNEP, n.d.) and increasing frequency of extreme weather events such as cyclones and heatwaves in Egypt (UNICEF,2022).

Yet, the summit is already making headlines even before its start, as hundreds of thousands of people, among which environmental and human rights activists, denounce the questionable choice of sponsors such as Coca-Cola and Egypt as a location for the venue.

What to expect

Set in a completely different geopolitical context with Russia's war on Ukraine topped with the european energy crisis, subsequent rapid inflation and the evergrowing climate emergency, many hope COP27 will remind world leaders to not forget the much needed urgent climate action.

This year's meeting in Egypt is dedicated to following up on the decisions taken in Glasgow. It will be about how to reach those goals, how to keep those promises, and how to finance climate action. We will watch how this year's event unfolds and what it will bring and remain hopeful for a fruitful outcome.

Related to this article: How Does CO2 Cause Global Warming?, Exploring the CO2 Issue and Its Consequences

References

Coger, T. (2022, 13 October). Where Do We Stand on COP26 Climate Promises? A Progress Report. World Resources Institute. Access: https://www.wri.org/insights/cop26-climate-pledges-tracking-progress

Dröge, S., Geden, O. (2022, January 12). Next COP Ahead: Europe Has Work to Do. Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik. Doi:10.18449/2022C02

Greenpeace European Unit (2021, 13 November). COP26: EU hypocrisy exposed as climate conference wraps up. Press Release. Access: https://www.greenpeace.org/eu-unit/issues/climate-energy/45918/cop26-eu-hypocrisy-exposed-as-climate-conference-wraps-up/

International Institute For Sustainable Development (n.d.). Sharm El-Sheikh Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 27). Access: Event: Sharm El-Sheikh Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 27) | SDG Knowledge Hub | IISD

UNEP (n.d.). The Congo Basin and Climate Change. Fact Sheet. Access: https://www.cms.int/sites/default/files/publication/fact_sheet_congo_basin_climate_change.pdf

UNICEF (2022). Climate Change. Access: https://www.unicef.org/egypt/climate-change#:~:text=Egypt%20is%20highly%20vulnerable%20to,0.53%20degree%20Celsius%20per%20decade.