Kochi: The 27th UN climate summit kicked off at the tourist city of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt on November 6. Earlier, Egypt lit up Khafre Pyramid, one of the three pyramids of Giza, to welcome the participating countries.
However, the opening faced a delay of several hours as negotiators worked to agree on the COP and the CMA agendas.
‘COP’ is short for ‘Conference of the Parties’ to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The convention currently has 198 parties. When they meet every year, they constitute the chief decision-making event of the convention. Their meetings are numbered COP1, COP2, etc.
‘CMA’ is short for ‘Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement’ – i.e. the group of countries that have ratified the Paris Agreement. Their meetings are called CMA1, CMA2, etc.
In the opening ceremony, Egypt took over the presidency of the conference from the United Kingdom. Egypt foreign minister Sameh Shoukry was elected COP27 president. The 28th COP will be hosted by the government of the United Arab Emirates from November 6 to 17, 2023.
‘Loss and damage’ on agenda
For the first time in the history of COPs, ‘loss and damage’ is now on the provisional agenda of discussion on matters relating to finance.
‘Losses and damages’ refers to the consequences of the climate crisis, “beyond natural climate variability”, on nature and people, according to the UN. “These include economic and non-economic losses due to extreme weather events as well as slow-onset events like sea-level rise.”
The participating countries agreed that the sub-agenda item on “matters relating to funding arrangements responding to loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, including a focus on addressing loss and damage”, based on a proposal received from Pakistan on behalf of the G77 countries and China, be included in the provisional agenda.
However, it won’t involve liability or binding compensation, and a conclusive decision has to be reached by 2024. The CMP17 and CMA4 provisional agendas were also adopted.
‘CMP’ refers to the group of countries that oversees the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
India pavilion up
India’s Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav inaugurated the Indian pavilion at COP27. The theme at the Indian pavilion this year is “LiFE – Lifestyle for Environment”, which is India’s call to lead sustainable lifestyles by reducing consumption.
‘Global State of the Climate’ report
The World Meteorological Organisation launched its provisional ‘Global State of the Climate’ report for 2022. The final report will be published in April 2023.
The report is produced annually and provides a snapshot of the current state of climate worldwide by taking into account important climate indicators, extreme events and their consequences.
Per the report, the last eight years are on track to be the eight warmest on record due to rising greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. Extreme weather events, including heat waves, droughts and floods, have affected millions and cost billions this year. The rate of sea level rise has doubled since 1993.
On the cards tomorrow
The World Leaders’ Summit, in which heads of states and governments will participate in the Sharm el-Sheikh Climate Implementation Summit, will begin on November 7. It will include the ‘High Level Segment’, where these individuals will also deliver their respective national statements.