What is the difference between weather and climate?
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In this article, we’ll break down what weather and climate mean, explore how they differ, and explain why this distinction is important for understanding our planet.
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COP27 Summit: Agenda, Challenges and Issues
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In both our civil society and developing nations, climate change is altering our daily lives, even if we aren’t cognizant of the ways that climate change is capable of impacting our world.
Luckily, events like COP27 are reserved for in-depth conversations about climate beyond the trivial struggles we're experiencing as a result of rising global temperatures.
Most picture climate change as a problem that has always existed, but climate justice and plans to accelerate action weren't always necessary. Climate change elicits more problems than heat waves or droughts, but threatens life on Earth as whole – which is why global leaders gathered at COP27 to discuss these climate issues.
This article will discuss COP27, or the 27th Conference of the Parties, which is an annual meeting to discuss climate change – and the several issues and challenges discussed regarding climate change
What is COP, or the Conference of Parties?
The Conference of Parties, otherwise known as COP, is an annual meeting where global leaders meet and discuss and negotiate how to combat climate change and various climate challenge issues around the world.
“ The main goal of the Conference of Parties is to address and reassess issues regarding climate change amongst members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or the UNFCCC – to reduce climate change. ”
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Each year at the Conference of Parties, the UNFCCC attends COP, as the UNFCCC is an international treaty aimed to monitor and advise the participating countries on their plans to address climate change. They attend the Conferences of Parties every year alongside members of the Paris Climate Agreement and other global leaders.
💡 COP works by being held once a year to serve as the main decision making body to establish and discern which countries should implement which regulations for the sake of improving the environment.
An example of matters to be discussed each year at the Conference of Parties, such as at COP27, include how the Supreme Court of the United States is continuing to hinder the United State’s progress in reducing carbon and greenhouse gas emissions – such as the recent ruling on behalf of the supreme court for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to have all emission reducing tactics approved by legislation before implementation.
👉 This directly slows other countries down as well, and continues to impact the globe’s progress in the fight against climate change – which is precisely why COP is a crucial annual conference for all world leaders to discuss future climate action.
What is COP 27 and why is it important?
COP27, which took place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt – is important as it discussed the climate actions necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the current energy crisis affecting the European region, and increasing extreme weather events, and how to address these manners for the future.
“ One of the most important matters addressed at COP27 included the inevitable environmental impact the United States has, as they are the world’s second largest greenhouse gas emitters behind China. ”
💡 The blind promises to reduce carbon emissions made by the United States are starting to affect other countries' carbon emission reduction goals, and this is a key point that was addressed and discussed at the summit.
Some other reasons why COP27 is important include:
- Discussing the Energy Crisis Inflicted By Russia – The impact of the reluctance to use or rely on Russian gas will also be discussed. The effects of the war in Ukraine, where food shortages have increased alongside prices for vital essentials amidst a looming world recession – has provoked climate change to move to the back burner. This predicament will also be addressed at the COP27.
- Supreme Court EPA Ruling – As the United States is one of the world’s most powerful and resourceful countries, the new ruling by the supreme court makes it more difficult for entities in the United States to take immediate, concrete action to mitigate climate change.
- Natural Disaster Impact – Wildfires, heat waves, tornadoes, hurricanes, and more natural disasters are becoming the norm around the world. COP27 will take into account the growing number of these natural disasters and what can be done to build greater climate resiliency and mitigate the negative effects of these climate tragedies.
COP27 will discuss the environmental implications created by global events while still pontificating to all other countries the importance of being aware of how their actions impact the environment and prioritizing climate change goals.
👉 Ultimately, COP27 is important as it will discuss the current actions of nations around the world, and how their individual choices could create a ripple effect and make it challenging for other countries to achieve their own emission reduction goals.
What climate change issues were presented at the COP27?
Given the current political statement in the world, many climate change issues were presented at the upcoming COP27 in Egypt – such as the impact created by the world’s largest GHG emitters, the energy crisis in Russia, and how to preserve the original ideals presented in the Paris Agreement.
“ The difference between COP27 and COP26 is that COP27 focused on building greater climate resilience, strengthening adaptation efforts, and helping vulnerable countries who are affected by climate change. COP26, on the other hand, focused on gathering climate funds to prioritise the effort to prevent global warming from exceeding 1.5°C. ”
Here are some of the issues that were discussed at COP27:
- The Importance of Funding for Developing Nations – COP27, bouncing off of one of the primary topics discussed at COP26, discussed the importance of helping developing countries to fund their efforts towards climate resilience to protect the health and safety of residents of these countries. As a result, the new loss and damage fund was created.
- Emphasis on Climate Finance & Transparency – COP27 discussed in depth the importance of accountability on behalf of both businesses and nations around the world in order to boost transparency and ensure everyone is engaged in the fight against climate change.
- Environmental Impact of the United States – COP27 reviewed the current emissions created by the United States, or the second largest greenhouse gas emitter in the world. This was imperative seeing as several of the blind promises to reduce carbon emissions made by the United States are starting to affect other countries' carbon emission reduction goals.
- Russia & Ukraine Conflict – COP27 was sure to highlight the impact of the reluctance to use or rely on Russian gas, the effects of the war in Ukraine, how food shortages have increased alongside prices for vital essentials amidst a looming world recession – and how all of these events has provoked climate change to move to the back burner.
👉 The main goal of discussing these issues at COP27 was to facilitate greater transparency and collaboration between wealthier nations to instill stronger sustainability actions to start implementing some of the actions discussed at COP26.
What was agreed at COP27?
Several things were agreed at COP27, such as the importance of developing a clear mitigation strategy, the need for businesses to be held accountable for their environmental impact, and the need to help developing nations with their own climate plans – as many struggle to afford effective solutions.
Here were the five main takeaways from COP27:
- Avoid Exceeding Global Temperatures Greater Than 1.5 Celsius – COP27 reiterated the goals depicted in the Paris Agreement and the urgency surrounding the current goal to ensure that global warming does not exceed 1.5°C.
- Loss and Damage Fund – Perhaps the most infamous outcome of COP27, the loss and damage Fund – which will help to financially support struggling nations when their communities are hit by hurricanes, floods, droughts, and more. This was perhaps the most “historic” agreement made at COP27.
- Emphasis on Accountability for Businesses – Even though this topic has already been highlighted by recent regulations such as the CSRD and the SEC Climate Disclosure Rule –
- Help Developing Nations Fund Climate Change Efforts – COP27 solidified the importance of wealthier nations assisting developing nations to implement the use of climate technologies and secure financial resources to help fund their climate projects. In addition to this, COP27 launched of the Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation initiative – which will help to ensure sufficient and sustainable food production by 2030 and help feed the global population.
- The Start of Concrete Action – COP27 pontificated the importance of implementation and starting to take concrete actions towards goals discussed at previous COP meetings. This included nations agreeing to transition to low-emission forms of transportation, building greater climate-resilience, and the establishment of a work program to improve our efforts to mitigate climate change.
👉 One of the most important things agreed upon at COP27 was for nations to work together to help developing nations, such as with the development of the loss and damage fund.
Were the results of COP27 successful?
The results of COP27 were ultimately received as successful, as many dubbed it as “implementation COP” – as several decisions that had been discussed at previous meetings were finally put into action.
“ Arguably, the most successful outcome of COP27 was the development of the loss and damage fund – designed to help financially support developing countries that will continue to be negatively impacted by natural disasters spurred by climate change. ”
There have been 26 previous Conferences of parties, with their importance growing each year as climate change continues to negatively impact all other sectors of life, economy, and sustainability around the planet.
However, it remains difficult to determine if previous COP events have been ultimately successful or unsuccessful in reducing climate change, as each annual meeting is subject to discuss different climate change circumstances.
👉 Regardless, it is important to note that the meeting is overall still a positive action and imperative global meeting to discuss climate change every year – and from our perspective, COP27 was successful as it finally put efforts into place to help developing nations amongst climate change.
In addition to this, the UNFC also deemed COP27 as successful, as “significant progress” was made on for the Adaptation Fund and plans made to expand the mitigation program for future COP events through 2026.
Still, there were some areas for improvement, as COP27 did not successfully accomplish the following:
- Implementation methods to start phasing out the use of fossil fuels
- Effective tactics to ensure greenhouse gas emissions will be reduced by 45% by 2030
- Shortage of climate funds for adaptation
💡The next Conference of Parties, COP 29, will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan from November 11th to November 22nd, 2024.
Overall, COP27 reviewed many of the previous themes discussed over the past few years and began to launch effective measures to tackle these climate challenges – but there is always more to be done, and future COP events will continue to discuss solutions for these global issues associated with climate change.
What about Greenly?
If reading this article about COP27 has made you interested in reducing your carbon emissions to further fight against climate change – Greenly can help you!
At Greenly we can help you to assess your company’s carbon footprint, and then give you the tools you need to cut down on emissions. We offer a free demo for you to better understand our platform and all that it has to offer – including assistance with boosting supplier engagement, personalised assistance, and new ways to involve your employees.
Click here to learn more about Greenly and how we can help you reduce your carbon footprint.
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