As countries convene at climate summit in Egypt, reports show the world is wildly off track. Here’s what to watch at COP27
“There is really a crisis of democracy and elections are almost meaningless anyway,” said Mohamed Abdelaziz, an Egyptian environmentalist and founder of the Al-Ahram Centre for Investigative Journalism. “You have thousands of people just standing around, no one seems to care,” he said. “We need to change the mentality behind how we vote.”
On the eve of Egypt’s historic climate change conference, the United Nations said the global pact to reduce emissions would only be “half-hearted” and offered a “reassurance package” to the public.
“Achieving the goals would require a wholesale transformation of global society, ” said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Ahead of the major climate summit in Egypt, here’s a roundup of what you need to know about the global pact and how it will impact the climate.
What is the Paris Agreement?
The Paris Agreement, also known as the global climate deal, is the first global agreement to limit global emissions of greenhouse gases. (AP Photo/Kaci Scherer, File)
With 195 country parties that represent more than 200 percent of the global emissions of greenhouse gases, the deal is the first global treaty to limit global emissions of the gases.
But it’s not like treaties don’t go through. Over 20 years, the developed world has ratified several treaties relating to climate change. Over the same period, the developing world has ratified 12 treaties.
The issue of climate change is the most pressing challenge the world is facing, said U.N. Environment Program Executive Director Achim Steiner. Countries are already struggling with the impact of drought, desertification and floods and will continue to suffer the negative consequences of climate change.
“When we talk about climate change, we are talking about a fundamental transformation of our way of life that will take us from one stage to another of a process that is going to determine
