Reflections from COP 27: Can Climate Action Keep Up with Climate Change?

At the 27th Conference of Parties (COP 27) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, over 45,000 attendees convened in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, to discuss solutions, strategies, and global commitments to address climate change. While the Egyptian COP 27 Presidency planned for an “implementation COP” that ensures the full implementation of the Paris Agreement, the reality may have fallen short of expectations.¹

Parties to the Paris Agreement adopted in 2015 committed to keeping the global temperature rise below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5°C to avoid the worsening impacts of climate change. Yet, efforts to limit global warming remain largely insufficient despite growing initiatives to mitigate global greenhouse gas emissions.² The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently reported that emissions need to be cut by up to 60% relative to 2019 levels by 2030 to prevent overshooting 1.5°C and up to 45% to limit warming to 2°C.³ Under the Paris Agreement, countries outline and communicate their commitment to reducing emissions and other climate actions in the form of Nationally Determined Contributions (NCDs). However, many national policies are insufficient to accomplish the pledges made in NDCs, and few global environmental goals have progressed.⁴ Further, since the previous meeting in Glasgow, only twenty-four new or updated NDCs have been submitted by Parties.⁵

Many COP 27 attendees, including those representing indigenous groups, youth, children, and developing nations, called upon Parties for more substantial commitments and global cooperation to recognize the limited time remaining to mitigate the impacts of climate change and respond to the gravity of threats with a greater sense of urgency. The conference allowed global leaders to regain momentum on climate change, pivoting from negotiations to implementation. Yet, government, businesses, and civil society stakeholders spearheaded initiatives to develop partnerships and showcase real-world climate solutions.⁶

Negotiating Parties did reach breakthrough agreements on finance issues, including the establishment of “loss and damage” funding for countries on the front lines of the climate crisis.⁷ This fund marks a long overdue victory for communities and countries that are the most vulnerable to climate change impacts, like sea level rise, floods, heatwaves, desertification, droughts, and more. However, operationalizing the funds remains unclear, as Parties must determine where the funding will come from and which countries will benefit. Moreover, the financial costs of climate change will only intensify absent meaningful reductions in greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade.

The first global stocktake of the Paris Agreement will conclude at COP 28, taking place in the United Arab Emirates at the end of 2023, providing an assessment of the world’s collective progress toward achieving the treaty’s goals. Parties will again face the challenge of implementing plans while managing diverging levels of ambition and apprehension to ensure that climate change does not outpace climate action.