MC Explains | What is COP27 and why is it crucial for climate change action?

The UN Climate Change Conference, which is the official name for climate Conferences of the Parties, has been taking place every year since it was first held in Berlin in 1995 Representative image (Source: AFP)

In less than a month, around 90 heads of state, CXOs, experts and champions of climate action will head to the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP27, to discuss the climate crisis and find solutions.

The conference is taking place at a time when the volatility in the global energy market, coupled with concerns over soaring household costs, have refueled the discussion around energy security and has even regressed the narrative to reconsider the role that fossil fuels may play going ahead.

This explainer will get you up to speed with all that you need to know about this conference.

What is COP27?

The UN Climate Change Conference, which is the official name for climate Conferences of the Parties, has been taking place every year since it was first held in Berlin in 1995. The two-week summit is a meeting point for world leaders, politicians, experts and all other stakeholders of action against climate change where they discuss the climate crisis on a global level.

The UNFCCC entered into force on 21 March 1994. The 198 countries that have ratified the convention are called Parties to the Convention.

The meeting comprises the twenty-seventh session of the Conference of the Parties, the seventeenth session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 17), and the fourth session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement.

When and where?

The Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt will host the COP27 in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh.

Originally, COP27 was to take place November 8-20, 2021 but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, COP26 was rescheduled from November 2020 to November 2021. Subsequently, COP27 was moved to November 6-18, 2022.

Why?

COP is a major global event as it is the supreme decision-making forum of the UNFCCC, where signatory governments come together to discuss and reach a consensus on how to address climate change and its impacts, collectively.

At COP21, held in 2015, 196 parties signed the Paris Agreement, which was the first legally binding global treaty on climate change, committing to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

What is the vision for COP27?

This edition aims to be inclusive, rules based and ambitious, with substantive outcomes.  It aims to accelerate global climate action through emissions reduction, scaled-up adaptation efforts and enhanced flows of appropriate finance. There is also a recognition for 'just transition', something that developing countries worldwide have been asking for.

The aim is to mitigate global warming, adpt global goals, attempt to achieve a $100bn climate finance target by 2023, and promote collaboration between the governments, the private sector and civil society.

What makes COP27 important?

Climate change has become a reality and the occurrence of weather events like heat waves, floods, and forest fires prove that.

In 2022 alone, thousands died or were displaced due to unprecedented extreme weather. India faced its hottest summer in 122 years with heatwaves in many parts of the country. Its neighbours on both sides– Pakistan and Bangladesh- faced disastrous floods. Parts of South Asia and Europe faced ruthless heatwaves. Parts of east Africa faced severe drought.

According to the Climate Action Tracker (CAT), which is run by non-profit Climate Analytics and research group the New Climate Institute, the key sectoral pledges announced at COP26 in Glasgow on methane, the coal exit, transport and deforestation would close the 2030 emissions gap between a 1.5°C path and government targets by around 9%. “Even with all new pledges and such sectoral initiatives for 2030, global emissions are still expected to be almost twice as high in 2030 as necessary for a 1.5°C compatible pathway. Therefore, all governments need to reconsider their targets towards COP27 in 2022 to jointly enhance mitigation ambition,” CAT said in a report.

In 2009 at a United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen, developed nations promised to channel $100 billion a year to less developed nations by 2020, to support them in their endeavor of comparing climate change. The promise was broken.

Alok Sharma, COP26 president and Britain’s cabinet minister, said on a visit to India in July that a mechanism is being put in place so that the target of $100 billion is achieved by 2023.

Given the extreme volatility in energy markets and the brutal impact of escalating climate change, vulnerable nations may push for ‘loss and damage’ funding more than ever before this November.