Words by Jasmine Dodd

The history of COP 

Being originally established to assess progress in addressing climate issues, the Conference of Parties (COP) began in 1995. It has been described byGeographical as having ÔÇÿflashes of brilliance [with] years of disappointmentÔÇÖ. Over the years, COP has been heavily criticised for not producing effective action when addressing climate issues, but merely a pretence of creating change without addressing the root cause. Once a year global leaders (ironically, considering the immense carbon footprint produced by flying) fly to various locations around the world to take part in arduous negotiations during the two-week-long conference. 

COP mission

The aim of the United Nations Climate Change Conference is to encourage cross-border cooperation in the face of global climate challenges. Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, who hosts this year’s COP has expressed how he ÔÇ£deeply believe[s] that COP27 is an opportunity to showcase unity against an existential threat that we can only overcome through concerted action and effective implementationÔÇØ.  This can be seen through the establishment of the first-ever climate treaty in Paris in the 2015 COP21. It was agreed that every country would contribute towards limiting global warming by aspiring to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees. This agreement created the Paris Climate Accords which was dubbed ÔÇÿthe worldÔÇÖs most important climate change treatyÔÇÖ by Greenpeace. Nearly every government in the world has signed this treaty, including North Korea. However, the withdrawal of the US during former President Trump’s term questions the authenticity and impact of the treaty.

COP27 

This year’s COP took place in Sharm El Sheikh, a resort town in Egypt from the 6th to the 20th of November. Ironically, the chosen host country is a dictatorship where according to The Guardian, domestic climate activists have previously been incarcerated making this chosen location more debatable. There are hopes that by hosting COP27, Egypt can attract positive news coverage, therefore legitimising President el-Sisi, however, the attention can alternatively be drawn to the political prisoners in Egypt. This included Egyptian-British Political Prisoner, Alaa Abd el-Fattah, who was on hunger strike throughout COP27 and stopped drinking water to draw attention to his pro-democracy cause which began during the Egyptian revolution in 2011. Abd el-Fattah is in prison for spreading false information. The climate conference included critical climate negotiations and press conferences which involve over 100 Heads of State and Governments, with upwards of 35,000 participants, according to the United Nations. It can not be said that the topic of conversations was limited to the originally desired climate-oriented intentions as attention was drawn to the authoritarian leadership and nonexistent political opposition as the number of political prisoners mount questions of human rights abuses. 

Outcomes 

The most successful outcome of COP27 is the establishment of a Loss and Damages Fund for countries deemed vulnerable to climate change, such as Pakistan in which one-third of its landmass was flooded earlier this year. This is a triumph for the lesser-developed countries, least responsible for but most impacted by climate change. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), this fund was formed after ÔÇ£the culmination of decades of pressure from climate-vulnerable developing countriesÔÇØ. The phrase ÔÇÿloss and damagesÔÇÖ can be described as the adverse effects of climate change and global warming, the UNEP uses examples such as rising sea levels, desertification, the intensification of heatwaves and more. It is not the countries most impacted by climate change that are responsible for emitting the environmentally damaging levels of greenhouse gases, by G20 countries which the UNEP have found produce approximately 80% of global greenhouse emissions. As a result, the establishment of the Loss and Damage Fund will help fill the financial gap in climate damage costs and aid affected countries in restoring climate damage. 

Future impact

The future impact of COP27 and the long-awaited establishment of the Loss and Damages Fund may be profound for the economic cost of respiration after environmental disasters, however, looking into the future, less can be said for the loss of lives, homes and livelihoods as a consequence of rising sea levels and desertification. UN Secretary-General Ant├│nio Guterres has pointed out how ÔÇ£the world still needs a giant leap on climate ambitionÔÇØ which is supported by the criticism, of the COPÔÇÖs disappointing attempts to provide effective action to climate issues, while failing to address the cause. Governments seem to be five steps behind when addressing the consequences of climate issues, as demonstrated by the long-awaited (and slightly too late) establishment of the Loss and Damages Fund.