As COP27 gets underway in Sharm El-Sheikh Egypt, and leaders from around the world gather to formulate an updated statement on the world’s commitment to collective action on climate change, there are a number of key issues that the delegates will face. This meeting of the Conference of Parties is happening 30 years after the drafting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and 7 years since the Paris Climate Agreement was adopted at COP21.
The COP meetings have now become an annual event, with an agenda covering a range of topics, from climate finance, to plans for decarbonization, impacts of climate change on youth and by gender, biodiversity, water resources, energy innovations, and solutions to the challenges of adapting to climate change and mitigating further emissions of greenhouse gasses.
It is now all but certain the goal set out in the Paris Climate Agreement of limiting global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels will be missed. Global temperatures have already risen 1.1 degrees above preindustrial levels, and scientists predict that there is a near certainty (93% chance) that the world will experience temperatures 1.6 degrees above preindustrial levels by 2026.
As the world’s leaders gather for the first time in Africa, the focus will be on the increasingly severe impacts of climate change on populations in the global south, as rising warming temperatures disproportionately affect the poorest countries. The IPCC estimates that approximately 50% of the planet’s population is highly vulnerable to the increasing impacts of climate change. Those living in the most vulnerable regions are 15 times more likely to die from storms, droughts and floods.
The disparity between the regions that are responsible for the most emissions, and places that are suffering the most from climate change will be one of the key themes running through the meetings in Sharm El-Sheikh.
ETK Groups’ recommendations for climate change actions to monitor
Following is a listing of some of the key topics to keep an eye on throughout the proceedings, and that will be addressed in the various sessions and no doubt in the final communique. Over the next few days we will publish a series of more detailed discussion around these topics. Please join in on the discussion, and let us know your thoughts.
- “Loss and Damage” debate and the financial obligations of richer nations to poorer nations that are suffering the most.
- The impacts of climate change are here, now. How will we adapt? Impacts on food supplies, increased ferocity of storms, changes in weather patterns that are already having a real impact.
- We are not on track to meet our commitments in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. What can be done?
- The world’s biggest emitters are still struggling with their commitments. Where will the global leadership come from that is desperately needed?
If you’d like to discuss how ETK Group can help you achieve your climate change goals, please email us at admin@etkgroup.co.uk.