Image credit: Serhio Magpie – Own work, CC BY 4.0
This year, the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties, also known as COP, is being held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, from November 6th to November 18th. There are over 35,000 participants expected at COP27. The participants are made up of representatives of Parties to the Convention and Observer States, representatives of observer organizations, accredited IGOs, accredited NGOs, members of the press, and members of the public. Over 2,000 speakers are covering 300+ topics in the span of 12 days.
The COP brings together over a hundred parties to discuss and strategize an action plan that harmonizes both the Paris Agreement and the UN Convention on Climate Change. This year’s conference marks the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The main missions of the conference are evaluating the national communications and emission inventories submitted by the Parties, assessing the impacts of the measures taken by the Parties, and reviewing the progress each Party has made since COP26.
The first Climate Change Conference of the Parties was held in Berlin, Germany, in 1995. Each year, the COP meets in a different location based on the presiding country. The COP Presidency rotates among five regions recognized by the UN– Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe and Western Europe, and Others. This year’s presiding region is Africa and is being held in Egypt’s green city, Sharm el-Sheikh.
COP27 began with an introductory video detailing the devastating effects of climate change. You can watch the video here or click below.
There are four main goals and objectives of this year’s COP– mitigation, adaptation, finance, and collaboration.
Mitigation
Limiting the warming of the earth to below 2°C while working towards maintaining the 1.5°C target is a vital goal of the conference. This year’s conference is supposedly bringing about the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) laid out in the Paris Agreement.
Adaptation
With the effects of climate change becoming increasingly evident and devastating, another main goal is the Global Goal on Adaptation, a significant outcome that came out of COP26. The Global Goal on Adaptation enhances work on adaptation to build adaptive capacity, strengthen resilience, and reduce vulnerability to climate change. COP27 is expected to generate an improved agenda focused on this.
Finance
This year there’s a special focus on ensuring that significant progress is made on climate finance. Climate finance refers to the regional, national, and global financing of plans and actions that support mitigation and adaptation and can help to address and alleviate climate change. Each year, the convention determines and evaluates the progress Parties have made in fulfilling their commitments and pledges.
Collaboration
The collaboration of the attending Parties is of the utmost importance in order to produce substantial outcomes in a timely and equitable manner. Advancing the relations and partnerships of the UN Parties will be an essential instrument in fulfilling the four goals mentioned above.
OneNature is excited to see what will come out of this year’s Climate Change Conference of the Parties. We hope that human well-being will be a much-discussed topic at COP27. We look forward to seeing the dialogues and plans centered around wildlife, biodiversity, and human well-being.