The United Nations climate summit, or COP27, opened with warnings about the planet’s future. The last eight years had been the hottest, as per UN records. The report warns that the extreme temperatures, flooding, and wildfire indicate that climate change will be devastating if immediate actions are not taken to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
The COP27
Over one hundred and twenty world leaders have joined the summit at the Sharm El Sheik Egyptian city in the Red Sea Resort.
To agree on new climate targets, the leaders will discuss several things for the next two weeks.
After COP27 kicked off, there were calls for wealthy countries to support poor nations in fighting against climate change.
The Challenges
The past few months have seen severe damage due to natural disasters in various parts of the world. There were massive floods in Nigeria and Pakistan, the worst drought conditions in parts of the USA and Africa, cyclones in the Caribbeans, and heatwaves on three continents.
Alongside threatening natural calamities, the war between Russia and Ukraine, running for over eight months, led to an energy crisis and inflation surge. Moreover, the effects of the pandemic are still ongoing. All these happenings make this climate summit more crucial and challenging for the countries.
The Targets
The climate change executive secretary of the United Nations, Simon Stiell, thinks that the countries are determined to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 45 percent by 2030 so that the effects of global warming do not enhance further.
It will be a united effort, and every possible way to fight climate change is welcome, said Stiell.
The Trends
But the recent trends are somewhat contradictory to what Simon Stiell said. The end of this decade will increase carbon pollution by ten percent, and the temperature of the earth’s surface will rise by 2.8C at least.
