By Jiata Ekele
With the primary objective of guaranteeing the full implementation of the Paris Agreement, the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) began on Sunday, November 6, 2022, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
Discussions at COP27 get underway near the conclusion of a year that saw disastrous floods, unheard-of heat waves, terrible droughts, and powerful storms—all clear signs that a climate emergency is developing. As a result of serious geopolitical tensions and conflicts, millions of people worldwide are currently dealing with the effects of concomitant energy, food, water, and cost of living crises. In this unfavourable environment, some nations have started to freeze or reverse climate programmes and increased their reliance on the use of fossil fuels.
Additionally, the lack of desire to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is a backdrop to COP27. To achieve the main aim of the Paris Agreement, which is to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century, CO2 emissions must be reduced by 45% by 2030 when compared to 2010 levels, according to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. To prevent the worst effects of climate change, such as more frequent and severe droughts, heatwaves, and rainfall, this is essential.
According to a UN Climate Change assessment released in advance of COP27, although countries are bending the global greenhouse gas emission curve downward, efforts are still insufficient to keep the increase in global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.
Only 29 of the 194 countries submitted tightened national plans since COP26 in Glasgow.
“Considering that COP26 in Glasgow last year effectively concluded the Paris Rulebook, the key question for this and every subsequent COP is how closely discussions are tied to actual action. “Everyone, everywhere in the globe, needs to do everything they can to stop the climate calamity,” declared Simon Stiell, the UN’s executive secretary for climate change.
According to Mr. Stiell, “COP27 lays out a new direction for a new era of implementation: when outputs from the official and informal process genuinely begin to come together to generate greater climate success—and accountability for that accomplishment.”
In his opening remarks, the UN Executive Secretary for Climate Change urged states to concentrate on three crucial topics at COP27. The first is a fundamental shift toward putting the Paris Agreement into practice and turning conversations into actual measures.
The second involves solidifying gains in the crucial workstreams of mitigation, adaptation, finance, and loss and damage while boosting funding, particularly to address the effects of climate change.
The third is improving how the UN Climate Change process applies the principles of accountability and openness.
The ambitious vision for the COP that the Egyptian COP27 Presidency has outlined places the needs of people at the centre of our collective efforts to combat climate change. The Presidency wants to draw attention to important issues that deal with some of the most basic requirements of people worldwide, such as energy, food, and water security.
Egyptian Minister for Foreign Affairs and COP27 President Sameh Shoukry said: “We’re coming together at a time when global climate action is at a watershed point. Geopolitics, skyrocketing prices, and deepening financial crises pose threats to multilateralism, and several pandemic-hit nations have made only sluggish progress toward recovery. In addition, severe and resource-depleting climate change-related disasters are occurring more frequently.
“COP27 presents a special chance for the world to come together in 2022 and make multilateralism work by reestablishing confidence and collaboration at the highest levels. The Paris Agreement’s centrepiece, the grand bargain, must be restored at COP27 to be known as the ‘Implementation COP’.
The World Leaders Summit will be held on Monday and Tuesday with the participation of Royalty and more than 100 Heads of State or Government, following a procedural opening on Sunday to enable work to get started swiftly.
All heads of state and government have the chance to lay the groundwork for COP27 at the World Leaders Summit. The Sharm el-Sheikh Climate Implementation Summit and significant High-Level Side Events will take place over the two days.
During the COP, several significant Ministerial and other events related to climate change activities will occur. A first ministerial roundtable on pre-2030 ambition and ongoing discussions on the global stocktake, which allows governments and stakeholders to assess where they are and are not making progress toward achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, are among them.
All of the events would give Ministers and participants a venue to debate the advancements made thus far honestly and transparently.
In this year’s COP, the Blue Zone is expected to draw more than 50,000 participants, while the Green Zone will draw thousands more. In addition, to pledge opportunities, talks, roundtables, and side events, the Egyptian Presidency has set aside several critical thematic days.
