What is Cop27 and what does the Egypt summit aim to achieve?
Thousands have descended on the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh for the Cop27 climate summit, bringing together governments from around the world. But what does the summit actually achieve?
What is the Cop27 summit?
The summit is taking place from November 6 to 18 in the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
Cop stands for Conference of the Parties to the UN’s climate change framework - and includes all the UN member states, plus the State of Palestine and the Holy See, UN non-member states Niue and the Cook Islands, and the European Union, which negotiates as a bloc. The event occurs annually (apart from in 2020, when it was interrupted by Covid-19), and this will be its 27th year.
The host of the summit is chosen by the UN and cycles through the different regions. Last year, the UK hosted the Cop summit in Glasgow and at the beginning of the two weeks officially handed over the presidency to Egypt.
What is the goal of the Cop27 summit?
The real work of the summit is to hash out the details of international climate agreements, particularly the Paris Agreement, which commits countries to try to limit global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial temperatures.
The main battle of the summit will be over funding, in particular for the developing countries that bear the brunt of the impact of climate change such as drought and flooding. This funding has been a controversial and unresolved issue for many years, and came to a head in Glasgow.
Countries will also be expected to bring new commitments on cutting their emissions, known as their Nationally Determined Contributions. So far only 29 countries have set new targets, meaning there is “no credible pathway” to keep warming to 1.5C.
Who is attending the Cop27 summit?
Global leaders from around the world will make an appearance at the summit in Egypt. Rishi Sunak will be at a world leaders event on Monday, following a U-turn over his attendance. Mr Sunak had originally said he would be too focused on domestic events ahead of the autumn budget to attend the summit.
Mr Sunak will hold bilateral meetings with Emmanuel Macron, French president, and Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, on Monday.
Joe Biden , the US president, will fly into the summit on Friday November 11 on his way to the G20 summit in Bali. His climate envoy, John Kerry, will also attend. In total, 90 heads of state are expected to attend.
Alok Sharma, who held the Cop presidency for the UK, will also be in attendance, as well as Thérèse Coffey, the Environment Secretary; James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary and Grant Shapps, the Business Secretary.
Boris Johnson, the former prime minister who has said he takes a personal interest in the climate crisis, will also be in attendance having been invited by the Egyptian hosts following the UK’s leadership when he was in office last year.
Meanwhile, climate negotiators from each country will conduct the difficult discussions behind the scenes, often working night and day to reach an agreement by the end of the two weeks.
The summit also attracts activists, businesses and charities from around the world. Protest is a key part of the summit, but Egypt has been criticised this year for keeping climate demonstrators separated from the main event.
What is on the Cop27 agenda?
As well as the behind-the-scenes climate negotiations, the Cop27 summit will have days dedicated to specific themes, including finance and agriculture. There will be announcements on multilateral initiatives throughout the two weeks.
