COP27: What is the climate change summit doing to protect our planet and why you should know about it

COP27 is officially underway, which means it’s time for world leaders, climate groups, activists, and representatives to meet, discuss, and coordinate global climate action for the upcoming year.

In recent months, protests organised by direct-action groups – including Just Stop Oil – have featured heavily in the news, whether it’s activists throwing soup at Van Gogh’s sunflowers or glueing themselves to London’s Waterloo Bridge. While there’s been plenty of public discourse surrounding the effectiveness of these tactics, it’s clear that something needs to be done to address the ongoing climate crisis, which is where COP27 plays a key role. 

Whether this is your first time hearing about the annual conference, or you’re in need of an everything-you-need-to-know refresher, here’s all the most important info to keep you up to date.

What is the COP27?

COP27 refers to the ‘Conference of the Parties’ to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and this year marks its 27^th year. Berlin kicked off the annual climate summit in 1995, and since then, nearly 200 countries have become legally bound to discuss and implement climate strategies to reduce the global climate crisis. 

The conference sees world governments unite to discuss actions that can be taken to safeguard our planet, hold countries accountable for failing to meet climate targets and set new goals based on constantly updated climate developments.

One major success of the Conference was the establishment of The Paris Agreement in 2015, where 196 countries signed an agreement to limit global warming to below 2°C, but preferably to 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels. 

Knowing each country’s nationally determined contributions (NDCs) were unlikely to meet the ambitious objectives of the treaty, it was agreed that every five years, countries would lay out their commitments to align with the targets.

In 2021, COP26 saw countries share their updated plans for the first time since the agreement was formed.

The Glasgow summit acknowledged the urgency of tackling the climate crisis, now encouraging countries to update their NDCs yearly, as opposed to every five years. 

This year’s conference proves a pivotal follow-up in reflecting on how countries have started to put these targets in action and the expected impacts these will have in protecting the planet.

When and where is COP27?

This year’s conference started on 6 November. The Egyptian government is hosting the 27^th COP in Sharm el-Sheikh. 

What are COP27’s goals for climate change?

So, you might think, what didn’t get solved in COP26? This is expected to be brought to the forefront of this year’s discussions.

Adaptation 

Previously, focus has been placed on mitigating the impacts of climate change. This refers to efforts to prevent the effects of climate change. However, as extreme weather and climate-related disasters increase in frequency, and extremity, governments aim to shift focus to protecting vulnerable areas instead. Adaptation aims to minimise damage from extreme events, rather than try to stop the event from happening.

“Loss and damage”

Low- and middle-income countries are often more susceptible and vulnerable to climate disasters, while contributing the least to climate change through greenhouse gas emissions. As compensation, the UN suggests high-income countries pay “loss and damage” funds to poorer countries to assist in their preparation and recovery from climate-related disasters. So far, this has proved quite ineffective, with only Denmark donating – however, COP27 hopes to give others a push to contribute as well.