2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference

From Justapedia, unleashing the power of collective wisdom
(Redirected from COP27)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference
File:COP27 EGYPT.jpg
Native name مؤتمر الأمم المتحدة للتغير المناخي 2022
Date6–18 November 2022 (2022-11-06 – 2022-11-18)
LocationSHICC, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt
Coordinates27°56′42″N 34°21′48″E / 27.94500°N 34.36333°E / 27.94500; 34.36333Coordinates: 27°56′42″N 34°21′48″E / 27.94500°N 34.36333°E / 27.94500; 34.36333
Organised byEgypt
ParticipantsUNFCCC member countries
Previous event← Glasgow 2021
Next event→ Dubai 2023
Websitehttps://www.cop27.eg/

The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, or COP27,[1] will be the 27th United Nations Climate Change conference, to be held from 6 to 18 November 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. It will take place under the presidency of Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry, with more than 90 heads of state and representatives of 190 countries expected to attend.

The conference has been held annually since the first UN climate agreement in 1992. It is used by governments to agree on policies to limit global temperature rises and adapt to impacts associated with climate change.[2] The selection of Egypt as a host country attracted controversy ahead of the summit due to the country's human rights record.

Background

Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry will be the president of COP27.

Egypt was announced as the host of the conference following a successful bid launched in 2021.[3][4][5][6] On 8 January 2022 the Minister of Environment of Egypt, Yasmine Fouad, met with COP26 President, Alok Sharma to discuss preparations for the conference.[7][8] The Egyptian organisers advised countries to set aside tensions over the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine to ensure negotiations are successful.[9]

Possible climate change measures were discussed at the 2022 United Nations General Assembly, including the governments of several island nations launching the Rising Nations initiative, and Denmark and Scotland announcing climate finance measures for developing countries.[10] On October 14, 2022, the Scottish government called for climate reparations at COP27, as a "moral responsibility".[11] At a pre-COP meeting in October 2022, UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized the importance of the conference given the impacts of climate change observed in 2022, such as floods in Pakistan, heat waves in Europe and Hurricane Ian.[12]

The conference will be the first COP to take place in Africa since 2016, when COP22 was held in Marrakesh. Egypt's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry will take over the Presidency from Sharma at the start of the conference.[12] The United States decided to support climate talks at COP27, and will try to assist countries that are most affected by climate change.[13]

One week ahead of the summit, UNEP released a report outlining how there was "no credible pathway" to limiting global temperature increase to 1.5 °C and that mitigation efforts since COP26 had been "woefully inadequate".[14]

Sponsorship

The conference is sponsored by Coca-Cola. Several environmental campaigners suggested this was greenwashing, given the company's contribution to plastic pollution.[15]

Attendance

Attendees

Around 90 heads of state and representatives from more than 190 countries are expected to attend.[12] United States president Joe Biden and climate envoy John Kerry are both expected to attend, as are French president Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni.[16] Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is also likely to attend, having dropped out of COP26.[16]

UK prime minister Rishi Sunak said he would not attend COP27.[17] However, on 2 November, Sunak reversed himself and said he will attend.[18] Former prime minister Boris Johnson and Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon are also both attending.[16]

Non-attendees

In September 2022, Egypt warned the UK not to backtrack on its climate targets, in light of a change to the new government of prime minister Liz Truss, and the announcement that new monarch Charles III would not attend the conference on Truss's advice.[19][20] Following Truss's resignation, the request that Charles III not attend remained in place.[21][18] Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese, Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, Chinese president Xi Jinping and Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg are all not attending COP27.[16] Russian president Vladimir Putin is also unlikely to attend.[22]

Itinerary

On 7 and 8 November, the conference will begin with a World Leader’s Summit, followed by discussions on topics such as climate finance, decarbonisation, climate change adaptation and agriculture during the first week. The second week is expected to cover gender, water and biodiversity.[12] French president Emmanuel Macron, Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte and Senegalese president Macky Sall will host an event on accelerating action on climate change in Africa.[16]

Event spaces on the opening day of the conference were told they may need to be cancelled, unless they involve visiting heads of state, following tightening of security. These restrictions will not apply to the following day of the conference. Some NGOs criticised the move. Media access to the pavilions is also expected to have heavy restrictions.[23]

Reception

Ahead of the summit, the Human Rights Watch expressed concerns regarding the state of freedom of expression in Egypt, along with the broader human rights situation, and questioned to what extent it would be possible to protest.[24] Issues raised by critics included the authoritarian political system, mass imprisonment and curbs on civil society and dissent since 2013, under the leadership of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Imprisoned Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah criticised COP27 taking place in Egypt, and stated that "Of all the countries to host they chose the one banning protest and sending everyone to prison, which shows how the world is handling this issue."[25] Naomi Klein, Bill McKibben and British Green Party MP Caroline Lucas are among the signatories who have signed a letter detailing their concerns about holding COP27 in Egypt.[26]

On 15 July 2022, a White House adviser, Jerome Foster II, and a British climate justice activist, Elijah Mckenzie-Jackson, wrote a letter to the UNFCCC condemning the choice of Egypt as host of the COP27. The letter written to Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary of UNFCCC, requested it to move the conference to another safer African country due to concerns over LGBT rights, women's rights and civil rights suppression. Various human rights groups, including Amnesty International, viewed COP27 as an opportunity for Egypt to lift restrictions on civic space, and advocated for it to release its political prisoners and create a safe environment for advocates after COP27 ends.[27][28]

Reports[by whom?] revealed that a covert registration process filtered out civil society organizations critical of the Egyptian government from attending the Cop27. Egypt’s foreign, environment and social solidarity ministries privately selected and screened NGOs that would be permitted to apply for one-time registration for the climate summit. The application process and the selection criteria were not made public.[29]

On 12 September 2022, the Human Rights Watch published a report based on interviews with more than a dozen activists, academics, scientists, and journalists working on environmental issues in Egypt. As per the report, severe restrictions imposed by the Egyptian government on independent nongovernmental organizations, including environmental groups, has severely curtailed organizations' ability to carry out independent advocacy, and field work essential to protecting the natural environment.[30] The Egyptian government has also faced criticism regarding an alleged lack of action regarding climate change and reducing fossil fuel use.[31] As a COVID-19 recovery strategy, the Egyptian government increased hotel prices, leading to concerns over the affordability and inclusivity of the conference.[32]

In October 2022, the environment director at Human Rights Watch, Richard Pearshouse, stated that Egypt has threatened to derail meaningful global climate action by silencing the country's independent environmentalists before COP27. He said: "Human rights versus climate action is a false debate, it's not either or. We need people in the streets, independent environmentalists and human rights activists, strategic litigation and independent courts to generate change".[33]

See also

References

  1. ^ Burke, Kieran (15 November 2021). "HRW slams decision for Egypt to host COP27". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
  2. ^ Stallard, Esme. "COP27: What is the Egypt climate conference and why is it important?". BBC News. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  3. ^ Reuters (2021-11-12). "Egypt to host COP27 international climate conference in 2022 -ministry". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
  4. ^ "Egypt to host COP27 international climate conference next year". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
  5. ^ "Egypt selected to host UN climate change conference COP27 in 2022 after significant bids to counter problem". EgyptToday. 2021-11-11. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
  6. ^ "Road to COP 27: It's time for Africa to lead the climate conversations". The Independent. 2021-11-15. Archived from the original on 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
  7. ^ "Ministry of Environment - EEAA > Home". www.eeaa.gov.eg. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
  8. ^ "Egypt's Environment Minister discusses preparations for COP27 Climate Conference". Egypt Independent. 16 January 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
  9. ^ "Cop27: Egyptian hosts urge leaders to set aside tensions over Ukraine". the Guardian. 2022-09-28. Retrieved 2022-10-04.
  10. ^ "Denmark offers 'loss and damage' funding to poorer countries for climate breakdown". the Guardian. 2022-09-21. Retrieved 2022-10-04.
  11. ^ "'A moral responsibility': Scotland calls for climate reparations ahead of COP27". MSN. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
  12. ^ a b c d Limb, Lottie (2022-10-08). "What is COP27 and why is it so important?". euronews. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  13. ^ Dlouhy, Jennifer A; Roston, Eric (October 20, 2022). "US Supports Climate Reparations Talks at UN Summit in Egypt". Bloomberg. p. 1. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  14. ^ "Climate change: UN warns key warming threshold slipping from sight". BBC News. 2022-10-27. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  15. ^ "Cop27 climate summit's sponsorship by Coca-Cola condemned as 'greenwash'". the Guardian. 2022-10-04. Retrieved 2022-10-04.
  16. ^ a b c d e Limb, Lottie (2022-11-01). "The European leaders heading to COP27 as Sunak U-turns after backlash". euronews. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  17. ^ "Rishi Sunak criticised for skipping COP27 climate summit". BBC News. 2022-10-27. Retrieved 2022-10-28.
  18. ^ a b "Rishi Sunak is now going to COP27 climate summit". BBC News. 2 November 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
  19. ^ "King Charles will not go to Cop27 in Egypt, No 10 confirms". the Guardian. 2022-10-28. Retrieved 2022-10-30.
  20. ^ "King Charles will not attend climate summit on Truss advice". BBC News. 2022-10-03. Retrieved 2022-10-04.
  21. ^ "King Charles will not go to Cop27 in Egypt, No 10 confirms". the Guardian. 2022-10-28. Retrieved 2022-10-30.
  22. ^ "Cop27 guest list explained as Sunak U-turns on attending". The Independent. 2022-11-02. Retrieved 2022-11-02.
  23. ^ "Egypt shuts down event spaces on first Monday of Cop27 in blow to NGOs". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  24. ^ "Cop27 is in Egypt next year … but will anyone be allowed to protest?". the Guardian. 2021-11-21. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
  25. ^ "'It's a sham': Egypt accused of restricting protest in run-up to Cop27". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  26. ^ "Fears that Egypt may use Cop27 to whitewash human rights abuses". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  27. ^ "UN urged to move Cop27 from Egypt over 'LGBTQ+ torture'". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  28. ^ "The Dangers of a COP27 in Egypt". Atmos. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  29. ^ "Egyptian NGOs complain of being shut out of Cop27 climate summit". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  30. ^ "Egypt: Government Undermining Environmental Groups". Human Rights Watch. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  31. ^ "Analysis | Egypt will host COP27. Expect criticism over fossil fuels, human rights". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
  32. ^ "Activists raise inclusivity concerns for Cop27 as Egypt hikes hotel prices". Climate Home News. 2022-02-24. Retrieved 2022-07-31.
  33. ^ "Egypt silenced climate experts' voices before hosting Cop27, HRW says". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 October 2022.

External links

Retrieved from "https://justapedia.org/index.php?title=2022_United_Nations_Climate_Change_Conference&oldid=1119858692"