Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Government - Rwanda via Flickr. Global leaders gather in Sharm E-Sheikh, Egypt, for the 27th Conference of the Parties to draft new climate commitments and adaptation policies.
By Lily Benn ’24
Staff Writer
This year marks the 27th Conference of The Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, also called COP27. From Nov. 6 to 18, climate activists, negotiators, ministers, mayors, civil society members, heads of state and CEOs will be gathered in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt for the largest annual gathering on climate change and climate action, according to the United Nations’ official website.
The conference consists of daily sessions, during which officials work to address global environmental issues. The welcome message from President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt detailed the urgency of the climate crisis and other ongoing international crises such as food insecurity and water scarcity. El-Sisi emphasized how these problems are exacerbated by climate change, and how its effects are disproportionately impacting Africa.
The official COP27 website lists its overall targets for this conference, which include moving from pledging change to implementing change, launching climate adaptation plans and “delivering climate finance for developing countries.”
One plan proposed during the conference was “The Executive Action Plan for the Early Warnings for All Initiative.” The plan would use $3.1 billion to create early warning systems — mechanisms that would warn communities of severe weather and climate disasters — for all people by 2027, and is set to begin implementation in 2023, according to an article from the United Nations. The proposed $3.1 billion is equivalent to only 50 cents per person per year, the article reported. The plan was proposed by António Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, on Nov. 7, the United Nations reported. Guterres, in a meeting with government and UN leaders, private sector officials, financing agencies and “Big Tech” companies, explained this plan, highlighting how the issues perpetuated by countries with larger economies are affecting low-income countries the most and putting them at risk of damage from climate change, the article explained. Half of the world’s countries lack early warning systems, according to the UN News. Guterres also pointed out that people in Africa, South Asia, Central America, South America and small island states are the most at risk, and are 15 times more likely to die from climate disasters than people living in other countries, the UN reported.
According to the UN News article, the $3.1 billion proposed for this portion of the plan would only be a fraction of the $50 billion proposed in the overall plan from the conference’s proceedings to be delegated towards adaptation funding as a whole. According to the COP27 website, adaptation in this context means any action in the way of assisting the imminent and real needs of countries in response to immediate climate dangers and disasters.
The World Meteorological Organization claimed that early warning systems are a “low-hanging fruit” due to their cost efficiency and effectiveness compared to other programs, UN News reported. According to the article, spending only $800 million on early warning systems in individual countries could cut back future losses by $3 billion to $16 billion per year. It would be an efficient choice, as the number of recorded disasters has increased five-fold in the past years, and these systems are already in place in more affluent countries, so this technology is readily effective and available, according to the article.
The newly drawn up “Early Warnings for All Initiative” has officially been signed by 50 countries, UN News. The plan is being backed by a new advisory board which is set to be co-chaired by the heads of the World Meteorological Organization and the UN Office for Disaster Risk Prevention, according to the United Nations News article. At the next COP conference, there are plans to check in on the adaptation plan and assess its effectiveness.