UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has confirmed he will join world leaders to discuss action to tackle climate change, at the UN climate summit in Egypt.

The meeting starts in 3 days, 10 hours time. Sun, 6 Nov – Fri, 18 Nov 2022

What is a UN climate summit?

UN climate summits are held yearly, so that governments can agree measures to limit global temperature rises.

Referred to as COPs, which stands for “Conference of the Parties”. The attending countries have signed up to the original UN climate agreement in 1992, and signed the Paris Agreement in 2015.

The 2022 is the 27th annual UN meeting on climate. It will take place in Sharm el-Sheikh from 6 to 18 November.

Why?

According to the UN’s climate scientists global temperatures have risen 1.1C and are heading towards 1.5C. And if temperatures rise 1.7 above 1850s levels, the half of planets earth’s population could be exposed to life-threatening heat and humidity says IPCC estimates.

COP27 will focus on three main areas:

Reducing emissions
Helping countries to prepare for and deal with climate change
Securing technical support and funding for developing countries for the above

Who is attending COP27?

Over 200 governments have been invited. Even Russian delegates are still expected to take part. Plus environmental charities, community groups, think tanks, businesses and faith groups to take part.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tweeted that he would attend the COP27 summit, “to deliver on [COP26’s] legacy of building a secure and sustainable future”.

Although the African country contributes the lowest percentage to CO2 emissions, it suffers with droughts due to climate change impacts.

From President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi

The hosting of COP27 in the green city of Sharm El-Sheikh this year marks the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. In the thirty years since, the world has come a long way in the fight against climate change and its negative impacts on our planet.

The science is there and clearly shows the urgency with which we must act regarding rapidly reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, taking necessary steps to assist those in need of support to adapt to the negative impacts of climate change, and finding the appropriate formula that would ensure the availability of requisite means of implementation that are indispensable for developing countries in making their contributions to this global effort, especially in the midst of the successive international crises, including the ongoing food security crisis exacerbated by climate change, desertification and water scarcity, especially in Africa that suffers the most impacts.

In 2015, the world came together and showed the will to make the necessary compromises which led to the successful adoption of the Paris Agreement. Today and in light of the unmistakable messages in the recent IPCC reports, and following COP26 in Glasgow, we are once again called upon to act rapidly if we are to really meet the 1.5-degree goal, build our resilience, and enhance our capacity to adapt. And while these are no doubt major undertakings, I sincerely believe that they can also become opportunities for transformation towards sustainability if we collectively think creatively and demonstrate the necessary political will.

With this in mind, Egypt and its people look forward to welcoming you all at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, where we trust the world will come together, yet again, to reaffirm its commitment to the global climate agenda despite the difficulties and uncertainties of our time. I am positive that all parties and stakeholders will be coming to Sharm El-Sheikh with a stronger will and a higher ambition on mitigation, adaptation and climate finance, demonstrating actual success stories on implementing commitments and fulfilling pledges.

I deeply believe that COP27 is an opportunity to showcase unity against an existential threat that we can only overcome through concerted action and effective implementation. As incoming Presidency Egypt will spare no effort to ensure that COP27 becomes the moment when the world moved from negotiation to implementation and where words were translated to actions, and where we collectively embarked on a path towards sustainability, a just transition and eventually a greener future for coming generations.

sources BBC, COP27.eg