What is COP27
What is COP27?
The United Nations Climate Change Conferences (Conference of the Parties) bring countries together to take action towards achieving globally agreed climate goals. COP27 is the 27th annual UN meeting on climate, held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, from the 4th to the 18th November. In attendance are the countries that signed up to the original UN climate agreement in 1992.
Why is COP27 important?
In 2015, 194 countries signed the Paris agreement pledging to pursue efforts to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C. Owing to the emissions produced by humans, largely through burning fossil fuels, global temperatures have risen by 1.1C and are moving towards 1.5C, according to the UN's climate scientists, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The IPCC examined the effects of a 1.5C temperature increase on the planet, and found a vast difference between levels of damage done by 1.5C and 2C of heating. Rising sea levels, coral reef bleaching and increased incidences of heatwaves, droughts, floods and dangerous storms would still be seen with a 1.5C rise but on a smaller scale compared to the extremes associated with a 2C rise. As a result, they concluded that the 1.5C temperature rise was much safer and also found that every fraction of a degree increase is also significant. Despite this, some governments are already preparing for potential rises of 3 to 4C.
How important is COP27 for the marine community?
With our oceans covering 70% of the planet’s surface and absorbing 30% of global Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions and 90% of the heat from global warming the marine environment plays a crucial role in mitigation as well as being impacted by climate change. COP27 provides the ocean community with an opportunity to strengthen the momentum surrounding marine ambitions.
Pressure to escalate the development and implementation of science -based solutions, enhance coastal resilience and adaptation and acknowledge and continue recognition of sustained funding for ocean-climate actions, are a handful of the key messages that ocean stakeholders are looking to highlight at COP27. ‘Blueing the Paris agreement’ is a clear and sustained agenda that is set to accelerate at COP27, highlighting the movement and desire to protect our oceans through the marine agenda.
What does the MBA hope for COP outcomes?
The MBA stated its ambitions in an article on COP25, the so called ‘Blue COP (Frost & Buckley, 2019 “The Ocean takes centre stage in climate change talks” The Marine Biologist, issue 13, P11). These ambitions included support for the idea to incorporate World Meteorological Association (WMO) global climate indicators into the implementation of the Paris Agreement and for stronger mechanisms to ensure marine climate science is used by countries to develop national level legislation and policy.
The MBA is hoping that the momentum built up on having a strong focus on ‘marine’ continues and that the science is listened to and used as the basis for agreements on urgently needed action going forward.
We want to thank Lucy Dennis (Marine Biological Association Policy Placement Student) for this piece.
