Climate change affects everything from geopolitics to economies to migration. It shapes cities, life expectancies and wine lists.
The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, or COP27, is being held as the 27th United Nations Climate Change conference, and occurs from 6 November until 18 November 2022[2] in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. It will take place under the presidency of Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry, with more than 90 heads of state and representatives of 190 countries expected to attend.
The aim is that developed countries that have contributed the most to the climate crisis should compensate developing countries for the losses and damages caused by the climate impacts.
As global leaders commence discussions on climate change-related issues at this year’s Conference of the Parties (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, African leaders and stakeholders are championing a cause for the continuous exploration of fossil fuels to enable countries like Nigeria to finance development projects.
For many countries globally, tackling inflation remains the greatest concern, considering that high energy prices form a major trigger of spiking prices, leaving many leaders restless. The main sources of global energy are still fossil fuels: oil, natural gas and coal.
With Europe scrambling to line up enough oil, gas and coal for the winter while looking to Africa for supplies, the argument for African stakeholders remains the justification for the continent not to give up its fossil fuels, even when such fuels represent solutions to some of its most pressing needs and even that of Europe.
Indeed, stakeholders are insisting that Africa will not embrace the world’s timetable for transitioning to renewable fuels at the expense of the continent’s own energy security and economic well-being.
Already, United Nations Climate Change Executive Secretary, Simon Stiell, has said the global body will be holding world leaders and people to account, to make their policies align with the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the Convention
The UNFCCC official disclosed this while delivering his remarks at the opening plenary of COP 27 in Egypt, yesterday.
COP27 is also holding against the backdrop of inadequate ambition to curb greenhouse gas emissions. According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), CO2 emissions need to be cut 45 per cent by 2030, compared to 2010 levels to meet the central Paris Agreement goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century. This is crucial to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, including more frequent and severe droughts, heatwaves and rainfall.
Essentially, in COP26, countries agreed to deliver stronger commitments this year, including updated national plans with more ambitious targets. However, only 29 out of the 193 countries have submitted their plans against a backdrop of extreme weather events worldwide, an energy crisis propelled by the war in Ukraine and scientific data released by UN agencies that shows emissions are still growing at a record pace, as well as temperatures are on course to rise to dangerous levels by the end of the century.UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, warned in a message at the launch of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), titled ‘Provisional State of the Global Climate Report 2022’ at the weekend that: “The last eight years have been the warmest on record, making every heatwave more intense and life-threatening, especially for vulnerable populations. Sea levels are rising at twice the speed of the 1990s – posing an existential threat to low-lying island states and threatening billions of people in coastal regions.
