When does Cop27 start and where will it be held?

Egyptian Red Sea resort hosting latest instalment of key environmental conference

The 27th Conference of all the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – or Cop27, for short – will be held in the Egyptian coastal resort of Sharm El-Sheikh from 6 and 18 November.

Egypt’s foreign minister Sameh Shoukry will lead the summit of world leaders, climate organisations and activists, with environment minister Yasmine Fouad serving as the event’s ministerial coordinator and envoy.

Following on from last year’s gathering in Glasgow, Cop27 will again see the participants come together to thrash out the big questions about safeguarding the future of our planet.

This year’s Cop marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of the UNFCCC and Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, has expressed his optimism about the chance of further landmark agreements being reached between nations in 2022.

“We now have a much clearer understanding of the extent of the potential climate crisis and what needs to be done to address it effectively,” he said in advance of the summit.

“The science is there and clearly shows the urgency with which we must act regarding rapidly reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, taking necessary steps to assist those in need of support to adapt to the negative impacts of climate change, and finding the appropriate formula that would ensure the availability of requisite means of implementation that are indispensable for developing countries in making their contributions to this global effort, especially in the midst of the successive international crises, including the ongoing food security crisis exacerbated by climate change, desertification and water scarcity, especially in Africa that suffers the most impacts.

“I deeply believe that Cop27 is an opportunity to showcase unity against an existential threat that we can only overcome through concerted action and effective implementation.”

A rather more cynical view of the summit was offered by celebrated climate activist Greta Thunberg on a recent edition of The New Statesman’s World Review podcast. She said: “As it is now, the Cops are not designed to reshape our entire system. It is not designed to actually represent the people. It is designed, to a large extent, to represent lobby groups and nations and become a platform for nations and greenwashers, polluters, to simply say, ‘Oh, we are doing enough and we have gathered here because we care about the environment’.

“For example, during Cop26, the fossil lobbyists had a bigger representation than any nation. So, as it is now, it is not meant to actually make a difference and, as long as the general level of awareness is so low as it is today, they will get away with it. All they do is that they gather some time every few years and they make new targets and pledges only for them to break them and then make new ones and so on.

“So unless we educate people and inform people about what is actually happening and create this big movement of people demanding change, pressure from the outside, the Cops will not make a difference.”

Liz Truss had been set to attend Cop27 before he resignation as prime minister. It is not yet clear if her successor, Rishi Sunak, will travel to Egypt for the talks.

The conference will take place in a spectacular location.

Sharm El-Sheik is known for its Red Sea reefs and grand Sinai mountains and Egypt is keen to emphasise its status as a “green city” that has “achieved major strides in the adoption of sustainable accommodation, transportation, energy, waste management and tourism operations”.