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COP27 meetings reignite the continued fight against Climate Change

The United Nations Framework Convention will meet this November to discuss on going Climate Change issues

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, President of Congo Felix Tshisekedi and President Joe Biden stand before speaking at a session on Action on Forests and Land Use, during the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. (Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

By Brooklyn Blasscyk and Megan Duncan

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is currently holding their 27th session of the Conference of the Parties, also known as COP27, this month in Egypt. This annual conference gives international leaders and representatives the opportunity to discuss and advocate for particular climate policy measures. So far, COP27 has been focused on reviewing the promises made by various countries during the 2021 Climate Glasgow Pact as well as the 2015 Paris Agreement.


Dr. Shannon Gibson, associate professor of environmental studies at USC, has been following COP27 closely, and has illustrated that these meetings are focusing on reigniting these previous promises and calculating global progress in the fight against climate change.


Gibson: Basically, like they’re checking to see, do countries do what they were they said they were going to do? But it’s just like a transparency mechanism. It’s just saying, like, here’s what you said, here’s what you did, how do you stack up?

On the topic of restoring promises, Brazil’s President Elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has revived his country’s involvement with the conference. Earlier today he spoke about the need for immediate climate action.


Lula (translation): There is no climate security for the world without a protected Amazon.


Meanwhile, the United States is also focused on fulfilling past pledges. President Biden addressed the summit on Monday to urge a re-examination at previous promises enacted by past conferences.


Biden: This gathering must be the moment to recommit our future and our shared capacity to write a better story for the world.


Discussions surrounding the decline in biodiversity over the last decade as well as the need to limit fossil fuel dependency were also major talking points throughout the conference. With only two days of COP27 left, the discourse and initiatives that come from this summit will be crucial for the upcoming United Nation’s nature summit taking place in Montreal next month and the future of the world.