Over the next two weeks, leaders, negotiators, stakeholders and activists from around the world will gather in the coastal city of Sharm El-Sheikh for the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This important annual event shines a spotlight on climate change and paves the way for future change in vital areas like reducing greenhouse gas emissions and financing climate action in developing countries.
One of the major achievements from last year’s COP26 in Glasgow was the completion of the Paris Agreement rulebook, which sets out how countries will be accountable for delivering their climate action promises. Now, it’s essential that we move forward and scale up efforts to implement climate solutions and limit global warming to 1.5°C to avoid the very worst of consequences for our planet and people.
A crucial decade
It was agreed in Glasgow at COP26 that action is needed now to be able to reverse the climate change trend. A lot of pledges were made around areas like methane emissions, coal, and deforestation. But, according to the Climate Action Tracker, these still left us on track to hit 2.4C – which simply isn’t good enough.
Some of the key themes at COP27 are energy, finance, science, adaptation and biodiversity. Let’s hope that at this year’s COP leaders will make some significant decisions around these themes. And, even more importantly, that their words will lead to real action.