Cop 27 – What Is It And Why Is It Important?

Every year, UN climate conferences are organised to encourage governments to adopt measures to slow global temperature rise.

They are known as COPs, or “Conference of the Parties,” for short. The parties are the participating nations that ratified the first UN climate accord in 1992.

The 27th annual UN climate conference is known as COP27. It was held in Sharm el-Sheikh from November 6 to November 20 2022.

On November 7 and 8, the meeting was attended by heads of state and government. From November 15–18, a high-level event that was mostly attended by ministers was held.

Countries gathered at the COP27 climate change conference in Sharm el-Sheikh to take steps toward meeting the global climate goals set forth in the Paris Agreement and the Convention.

Representatives from 198 nations wrapped up the COP27 meeting.

Negotiators and heads of State made headway in important areas after the conference deadline passed, which is likely to have broad impacts.

Adopted Agendas At Cop 27

• Opening of the session.
• Organizational matters.
• Reports of the subsidiary bodies.
• Reporting from and review of Parties included in Annex I to the Convention.
• Reporting from Parties not included in Annex I to the Convention.
• Matters relating to adaptation
• Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change Impacts.
• Matters relating to finance.
• Matters relating to the least developed countries.
• Report of the forum on the impact of the implementation of response measures.
• Second periodic review of the long-term global goal under the Convention and of overall progress towards achieving it.
• Gender and climate change.
• Consideration of proposals from Parties for amendments to the Convention under Article15.
• Second review of the adequacy of Article 4, paragraph 2(a–b), of the Convention.
• Administrative, financial and institutional matters.
• High-level segment.
• Other matters.
• Conclusion of the session

Decisions Taken At The Sharm El-sheikh Clim

• The need for funding of loss and damage was finally acknowledged by richer nations and use of ‘Common but Differentiated’ (CBT) responsibilities. The nations that contribute the most to the climate change, must take steps to mitigate it. Developed countries should finance the loss of the developing countries.
• Adaptation of low emission, renewable and clean fuels should be done. There is an urgent need for immediate, deep, rapid and sustained reductions in global greenhouse gas emissions by Parties across the globe. Green washing by the corporate will not be tolerated. By 2030, the goal is to reduce the emission by 43%.
• Science based initiatives such as Race to Zero to be used for effective climate action and policymaking. It will increase access to early warnings and other useful climatic information.
• Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation (FAST) initiative upholds improvement in the quantity and quality of climate finance contributions aimed at transforming agriculture by 2030, to be led by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation launched by COP27 presidency. For the first time, it was discussed in a COP that global food chains from production to consumption contributed around onethird of greenhouse gas emissions.
• More ground level initiatives were encouraged and action based plans were focused upon. These plans will require investment of US$3.1bn by governments, which is equivalent to just 50 US cents per person, per year.
• Involvement of all the stakeholders in the decision making process was promoted for an effective dialogue. This fostered social solidarity.
• About USD 4 trillion per year needs to be invested in renewable energy until 2030 to be able to reach net zero emissions by 2050. Also, financial support from developed countries for developing countries was urged.
• Technology Executive Committee and the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN), in the period for 2023–2027, will facilitate the transformational change needed to achieve the goals of the Convention and the Paris Agreement, invites Parties and stakeholders to cooperate and engage with the Technology Executive Committee and the Climate technology.
• The important role of indigenous people, local communities, cities and civil society, including youth and children, in addressing and responding to climate change was recognised and highlighted the urgent need for cooperative action. Equal participation of women was also encouraged.

Way Forward

India’s contribution towards climate change has been significant in the recent past and one such commitment can be ascertained by looking at its NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution). India recently updated its NDC to tackle the climate crisis in August 2022.

Please refer below for a comparison between the older and the latest version of NDCs:

Unquestionably, COP 27 was a historic turning point for dealing with loss and damage. Additionally, even if it “remains on life support,” it “kept the line” at 1.5°C, according to COP 26 President Alok Sharma. In addition, the conference made vital decisions in key areas that are essential for implementation, including as markets, finance, and mitigation, but many people are still wondering when these various aspects of climate action will be implemented.

Although the mitigation work programme decision mentions scientific urgency, some developing countries, especially the LMDCs (Like Minded Developing Countries), felt the item might introduce new elements outside of the Paris mandate, such as mediumterm targets, and preferred to end the work programme in 2023 rather than continuing through 2030. The work programme now only has a mandate through 2026 as a compromise. Similar to this, a request for the final cover decisions to take into account recent conclusions from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change regarding the necessity of reaching global emissions peak before 2025 to keep warming to 1.5°C was rejected.

A similar temporal divide in opinions was evident in the financial negotiations, as poor nations emphasised the urgency of first establishing clarity on the “quantum” and time frame of the new, post-2025 global quantitative target on climate financing, and then discussing the specifics. Developed nations persisted in wanting to first debate technical issues before deciding a specific goal for 2024. Little is accomplished for the developing nations in this regard as per the resolution made on this matter by the Conference of the Parties acting as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement.

Overall, the COP 27 outcomes should be enough to keep implement the strategies for another year, and they, undoubtedly gave those now experiencing the terrible effects of climate change a significant victory.

But there is still a lot to be done. “COP 27 finishes with much homework and little time,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

Many organisations and nations had already set their sights on COP 28 during the final plenary on Sunday, November 20. Through the first Global Stocktake, the upcoming COP in the United Arab Emirates is expected to advance more on both implementation and ambition. Although it is obvious that countries have very varied perspectives on how to achieve ambitious implementation, the Paris Agreement is currently in its nascent phase. The purpose of COPs will need to be reimagined as venues for nations to come together towards progress, uphold openness and accountability, and increase ambition to the levels necessary to avert a climate crisis. Many people wonder whether COPs are effective, but few suggest changes that should be made. “If we didn’t have COPs, we’d have to invent them,” as one observer put it, especially to give the most vulnerable a platform to demand action on their top goals under the Paris Agreement. A topic that demands attention is how the various implementations and ambitious visions will manifest themselves in the upcoming COPs.