COP27-The Global Community Comes Together
The 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27) will be held from 6 to 18 November 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
This month, NSCA’s Collaboration Focus Group spotlights the importance of COP27, the annual gathering of nations as a global community to help address the climate crisis. By doing so, we hope to uncover perspectives from the global community priorities of COP27 that could help us more successfully adapt to the continuing changes we will experience from climate change locally.
This year’s Conference of Parties (COP) provides a platform for world leaders, businesses, and citizens to come together to discuss their role in mitigating the climate crisis worldwide. COP27 is also an opportunity for the public and private sectors to discuss and agree on climate solutions and adaptation measures to accelerate progress in Egypt and throughout Africa and the mid-East.
With the theme, ‘Together for Implementation,’ COP27 is billed as an ‘African COP’ in reference to its location as well as the expectation that African countries’ exposure to some of the most severe impacts of climate change will be front and center of the discussions.
-
The world remains far off track to limit climate change to the agreed levels in the Paris Agreement.
The world’s leading scientific authority on climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has stated that in all scenarios in line with these goals, global emissions must fall between 2020 and 2025, while in reality emissions are still rising. To have a chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C, global emissions must halve by 2030 and reach ‘net-zero’ by 2050.
The IPCC report Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability states that around half of the world’s population is ‘highly vulnerable’ to the impacts of climate change, with those in highly vulnerable regions already 15 times more likely to die due to floods, droughts, and storms compared to regions with very low vulnerability.
COP27 is a rare opportunity for parties and observers to come together and grapple with a challenge that is impacting all of humanity. The IPCC has made it clear that we are now in extraordinarily dangerous territory. With every action we take to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis we lessen irredeemable damage to the climate and its ability to sustain humanity. -
COP27 is taking place in a highly climate-vulnerable country on a highly climate-vulnerable continent. Adaptation – adjusting to current and future climate change impacts – has long received less attention and less finance than mitigation (decreasing greenhouse gas emissions). At COP26, efforts to change this included the Glasgow Climate Pact, urging developed countries to at least double adaptation financing for front-line, developing countries.
Vulnerable countries have long been calling for support to adapt to climate impacts. Following another summer of extreme weather, including wealthy, developed countries , the urgency of adaptation to climate change is increasingly obvious to those who have the most finances and technological capacity to implement change.
Current patterns of human development continue to worsen exposure to climate hazards. Present adaptation actions are making a difference in some places, but most are reactive, prioritizing immediate and near-term risks. Transformational action on adaptation is needed.
Vulnerability to climate change reflects wider patterns of inequality and marginalization, with those who have contributed the least to climate change standing to be most affected.
A significant point of frustration and anger among developing countries is the failure to deliver on promises of regular finance to assist them in both adaptation and mitigation efforts. At COP27, there could be a push for the fulfillment of historic promises, such as the $100 billion annual climate finance which developed countries were meant to deliver each year, from 2020 to 2025, but which so far has not been met.
Addressing the inequities exacerbated by climate change must be prioritized alongside technological advances and profits.
Redding, California
-
Extensive modeling demonstrates that the climate in California will continue to become hotter and drier if CO2 emissions remain unchecked. Redding, along with much of California and the west, has seen persistent extreme drought conditions as well as an increase in the number of days over 100 degrees annually. What does that mean for our most vulnerable residents (elderly, poor, homeless)?
Heat ranks as among the deadliest of all natural hazards (Borden et al, 2008). The projections are that we would see an increase in heat-related deaths in our community. Those deaths would be disproportionately affecting those who contribute the least to CO2 emissions. -
We believe that one of the most effective ways to lead our community through the climate crisis is to have a robust, equitable, and inclusive Climate Action Plan adopted and implemented for our community. We have well publicized fire safety plans that are incorporated into planning, building, and development projects. Having a Climate Action Plan will prioritize much needed adaptation and mitigation policies into all planning processes and create an opportunity for progress in reducing our CO2 emissions. A successful adaptation plan requires strong government involvement and leadership along with robust community involvement.
Currently, Redding is undergoing a revision of its General Plan. Two of the areas being worked on are Environmental Justice and Public Safety and Health. Within these sections, there is language that shows how the City will encourage adaptation and mitigation measures to climate change. One action being proposed is the adoption of a robust Climate Action Plan in a timely manner.
The overall Redding General Plan Revision is currently working its way through the Planning Department and will be made available to community members for comments. We strongly encourage community members to make comments when it is available! -
Make an Individual Climate Action Plan.
Greenhouse gas emissions per person vary greatly among countries. A person in the United States of America, on average, produces about 17.6 tons CO2e per year -- around 10 times as much as a person in India, and about three times the global average. In the European Union and the United Kingdom, the average footprint is approximately 7.9 tons of CO2e per person per year. To preserve a livable climate, the average emissions per person per year will need to drop to around 2 to 2.5 tons of CO2e by 2030. Start with these ten actions to help tackle the climate crisis.
Each of us can make a difference by working to decrease our own (and our family’s) carbon footprint. Everyone can help limit climate change. From the way we travel, to the electricity we use, the food we eat, and the things we buy, we can make a difference.
Contact City Council members and Board of Supervisors and urge them to develop and adopt an equitable, inclusive, and robust Climate Action Plan.
Read and Comment on the Redding General Plan when it opens for public comment: We will send an email alert to our Subscribers!
