The 27th Conference of the Parties for the climate, COP 27, officially opened on Sunday 6 November in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
One year after the COP26 in Glasgow, Great Britain, about 40,000 participants, including more than 120 heads of state and government from different backgrounds, media, NGOs, companies and observers are in Egypt in Sharm el-Sheikh, located between the Red Sea and the desert gates. The aim is to try to respond once again to the climate and environmental challenge, in the midst of several crises: inflationary, energy and food.
Thus, in a context marked by climate disasters and threatened by catastrophic warming, COP27 is highly anticipated by African countries. Between unfulfilled promises and the urgent need to act to limit global warming to 1.5°C, the stakes are high.
Handover of service
On Sunday, the handover between the British President of COP26, Alok Sharma, and the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, as President of COP27 was significant.
“Doing nothing will paralyse us, so this should be the conference of concrete action on climate change,” said Sharma Alok at the opening ceremony. He took the opportunity to congratulate his team on their work. “Thanks to our work, we have achieved our goal: we have kept 1.5°C alive,” he said, adding: “The UK presidency has shown that progress is possible, is happening and continues.
The President of COP27, Minister Shoukry, said that “the world does not have the luxury of continuing the polarised approach in tackling climate change”.
In addition, a summit of over 120 heads of state and government will be held on Monday and Tuesday to discuss the positions to be taken by the negotiators. For a fortnight, they will try to adopt new resolutions to fight climate change.
