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Written by Aggeliki Marinou, enviromental engineer at Wattcrop.

Climate change and the destruction of the natural environment are risks that are expected to have a significant global impact as they are the most important problems facing humanity today. Extreme weather events, major natural disasters such as earthquakes and loss of biodiversity have been on the rise in recent years with their impacts becoming more pronounced.

What is climate change?

Climate change refers to long-term changes in temperature and weather patterns. The changes can be natural, such as changes in the solar cycle, but they are mainly caused by human activity, mainly due to the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas. The burning of fossil fuels produces greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, trapping the heat of the sun and increasing the temperature. Carbon dioxide and methane are the two main greenhouse gases that threat the atmosphere.

Where are we today?

The temperature of our planet has already increased by more than 1°C compared to the level of temperatures before the industrial age. Scientists agreed that limiting the temperature increase to 1.5oC will help avoid worse climate impacts and maintain a sustainable climate.

The goal is to reduce greenhouse emissions by 55% by 2030 and achieve climate neutrality by 2050 to keep temperature rise below 1.5°C. Fossil fuel production must also be reduced by about 6% per year between 2020 and 2030.

How is climate change linked to renewable energy sources?

The cause of climate change is man’s inappropriate relationship with the natural environment. Man pursues growth and prosperity through methods that damage the environment. Growth and development should exist and be properly combined with the protection of the environment.

There are now several solutions to climate change that can bring economic benefits while improving human life and protecting the environment. There are also global frameworks and agreements that guide progress such as the Paris Agreement. Three broad categories of action are: reducing emissions, adapting to climate impacts and financing the necessary adaptations.

A shift to renewable energy is the solution as there will be energy sufficiency and sustainability of the planet at the same time. Switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources such as solar or wind energy will reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are causing climate change.

What are the main advantages of renewables?

They have several advantages, some of which are:

  • They are inexhaustible as they are found in nature (sun, water, etc.) and help to replace conventional energy resources.
  • Their exploitation does not require any active intervention (e.g., mining).
  • Their use does not pollute the environment.
  • They create jobs by boosting the economy.
  • They are produced in the country where they are consumed so that the country becomes energy independent.
  • The equipment is simple to build and maintain and has a very long lifetime.

What is COP27?

Cop27 is a defining moment in the fight against climate change. In November 2022, Egypt will host the 27th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh to build on past successes and pave the way for future ambitions to effectively address the global challenge of climate change. This annual meeting brings together the 198 members of the Convention to take concerted action on climate change.

The 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) will build on the outcomes of COP26 to decide on actions on issues critical to addressing climate change, from urgently reducing greenhouse gas emissions, resilience and adaptation to the unavoidable impacts of climate change, to meeting commitments to finance climate action in developing countries.

The historical background and what happened at COP26

The first UN climate talks were held in Berlin, Germany in 1995. The historic COP21 meeting took place in 2015 and their countries adopted the Paris Agreement.

The Paris Agreement is a landmark agreement, as under it each country had to submit its own commitments on emission reductions and adaptation measures in a collective effort to keep global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. An ambitious target was also set at that time to keep temperature increase within 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) was held last year in Glasgow, Scotland, and concluded with the Glasgow Climate Pact. This included a commitment to phase down unabated carbon energy production and phase out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. The Paris Regulation was also finalized at COP26, paving the way for carbon trading.

Developing countries after COP26 visibly showed their frustration as there was a lack of progress on the financial mechanism that would accelerate financial assistance from developed countries to combat the permanent and irreversible damage caused by climate change. The conference ended without a concrete measure to provide financial support, even though the Glasgow Climate Pact recognized the need to address these losses and damages.

Why is COP27 an important event?

COP27 is a critical moment for global action on climate change. The unresolved issues from COP26 are being postponed to November 2022 with the aim of addressing them immediately.

Keeping warming within 1.5C is not on track as last year’s events did not help to drive us to successfully achieve the target. The various economic impacts, such as due to covid -19, combined with the various disasters from climate change create obstacles to decarbonization and international climate cooperation. As it stands, the value of the Paris Agreement is in danger of being considered insignificant and a successful conference of states is seen as necessary.

To keep international climate cooperation alive a successful COP27 is deemed necessary in which it includes support for developing countries to address the damage caused by climate change.

Conclusions

In conclusion, to tackle climate change and to avoid further destruction of the environment it is necessary to adopt more green measures. There is no doubt that there have been encouraging trends in the green energy transition, as the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions is noticeable. However, the levels of reductions are not sufficient to meet the targets for combating climate change. It is imperative to intensify efforts to tighten the legislative framework in global and regional conventions related to climate and gradual decarbonization, hoping that COP27 will end with positive results.