The two-week high profile climate change summit of the United Nations is now on its second day in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt with the echoes of a warning that Earth is “sending a distress signal” still loud and clear.
The 27th edition of the Conference of Parties (COP27), which will end on the 18th, is an opportunity to get world leaders in the same space to discuss protecting the planet, with themes that include biodiversity, water, gender and transport.
In Egypt, COP 27 offers an opportunity to bridge the gap between NDCs – the nationally determined contributions – and the actions needed to avert the worst impacts of a rapidly changing climate.
NDCs, at the heart of the Paris Agreement and the achievement of its long-term goals, embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
The Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change, was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris on December 12, 2015 and entered into force on November 4, 2016.
Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
To achieve this long-term temperature goal, countries aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate neutral world by mid-century.
In this year’s summit, hosts Egypt called on countries to move from “pledges to an era of implementation,” with at least 120 world leaders expected to to make speeches at the conference.
With the “distress signal” warning, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has responded, saying the past eight years were on track to be the warmest on record.
COP27 president, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, has urged leaders to not let food and energy crises related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine get in the way of action on climate change.
“It is inherent on us all in Sharm el-Sheikh to demonstrate our recognition of the magnitude of the challenges we face and our steadfast resolve to overcome it,” he said.
The need for action was laid bare in the latest report from the UN’s World Meteorological Organization.
Guterres sent a video message to the conference in which he called the the State of the Global Climate Report 2022 a “chronicle of climate chaos.”
In it, scientists estimate that global temperatures have now risen by 1.15C since pre-industrial times and said the latest eight years were on track to be the warmest on record.
The report also warned of the other wide-ranging impacts of climate change, including the acceleration of sea level rise, record glacier mass losses and record breaking heatwaves.
Guterres said in light of these findings, COP27 must be the place for urgent and credible climate action.
We have our eyes and ears on the COP27.