The Conference of Parties (COP) is an annual meeting of member countries of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to discuss global efforts to combat climate change issues. The COP meetings are critical events in the international community’s efforts to address climate change and its impacts.
For 2021, the COP in Glasgow, Scotland marked an important milestone in the UNFCCC process, as it was the first major gathering of the world’s leaders since the Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015.
Therefore, COP27 however, did not seek to address the key concerns facing the African continent such as The need to create societal conditions that allow communities in Africa to realize their human rights and live in a healthy and sustainable environment within the context of the climate crisis, as well as the facilitation of African countries to have access to climate finance for mitigation, adaptation, loss, and damage as well as technology transfer in that era.
The RCCDN came to learn that based on what happened in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt this calls into why COP27 did not result in being the African people’s COP as it was initially thought of being; hence, it arose from the thinking that African needs would be prioritised.
COP28 is expected to take place in late 2023. The conference will likely target key areas concerning Africa, notably: Framing an African narrative on Just transition, by sector and by territory; Influencing the application of climate justice principles across all levels and all sectors in the negotiation process; and implementing the Africa Union Climate Change Strategy on Climate Change 2022 – 2032.
The same COP is also inferred to aim at building on the progress made at previous, that is COP27 where the remaining challenges in achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement were addressed. For instance; increasing the ambition of emissions reduction targets and mobilizing funding to support developing countries in their efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Overall, COP28 is expected to be a critical event in the global effort to combat climate change issues and will likely attract significant attention from policymakers, businesses, civil society organizations, and the media around the world.
With the help of: Michael Owen Ngoga
Djenny Mwizerwa
