A summer of extreme weather events has shown that this is now our reality. At COP27, world leaders and activists will search for solutions to avert the climate crisis. Here’s what you need to know about the world’s biggest conference on climate change.
From Nov. 6 to 18, world leaders, climate activists and finance and business leaders will be meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, for COP27, the world’s most important forum on climate change held by the United Nations.
COP27 is short for the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, an international environmental treaty signed in 1992.
Climate change is supported by credible science and is undeniable.
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that global temperatures are set to rise up to 1.5ºC, leading to widespread famine, droughts, loss of ecosystems and more.
COP27 hopes to ensure states meet the Paris Agreement, an international climate treaty signed in 2015, that aims to limit global temperature rise to 1.5˚C.
What’s On The Agenda?
Climate Mitigation
States will discuss more ambitious goals for mitigating climate change by keeping global warming below 2ºC, as well as ways to fulfill their commitments under the Paris Agreement, which aims to help countries adapt to climate change’s effects and mobilize enough finance.
Climate Adaptation
A summer of extreme weather events has shown that this is now our reality. COP27 hopes to push for global progress on ensuring vulnerable communities have the capabilities to adapt to climate change and enhancing their resilience.
Climate Finance
Provide developing countries in Africa, Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) with easier access to financial assistance that will help them achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. Rich nations had promised to deliver US$100 billion a year by 2020 at the COP in 2009, which has not happened.
Loss and damage
Loss and damage refers to the harms vulnerable states are already suffering as a result of climate change, such as rising sea levels. For years, wealthier nations have rejected discussing compensation for loss and damage – funding costs that countries can’t avoid or adapt to. This is the first time in years that the topic is on the official agenda.
Egypt And Human Rights Violations
COP27 has shone a light on Egypt’s alleged human rights abuses, which include torture, unlawful killings and silencing critical voices, according to Amnesty International.
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is boycotting the conference in protest, while activists are calling on leaders to confront the government over its alleged abuses, in particular its treatment of political prisoners.
One political prisoner, British-Egyptian pro-democracy activist and blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah, has been on a hunger strike for over 220 days and said he would stop drinking water at the start of COP27, sparking concerns about his health and calls for his immediate release.
