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COP27 and the year of climate promises

What were some of the promises made at COP27? See IMAGO’s coverage of the UN Climate Conference in Egypt.

This year’s United Nations Climate Conference COP27 focused on further implementing the Paris Agreement and integrating human rights issues into climate action — most notably, urging rich countries such as the United States to provide relief to billions in the Global South fighting climate change disasters, while activists continue to worry that the promises made are empty ones. Promises don’t mean much without implementation. Concerns regarding the lack of true employment of the Paris Agreement which was adopted by 196 parties in 2015 during COP21, are still at the forefront of climate action. CO2 emissions need to be cut by 45 percent by 2030 compared to the 2010 levels, according to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, as part of the effort to curb rising temperatures and prevent a 1.5 degree (Celsius) rise by the end of the century.

And while countries are pledging to put these concerns into action, execution and real results continue to be insufficient, said a report published by UN Climate Change ahead of the 12-day conference which took place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt and ends tomorrow. Since last year’s conference in Glasgow, only 29 out of 194 countries presented refined and robust national plans.
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IMAGO / NurPhoto / Dominika Zarzycka| COP27 In Sharm El Sheikh – Day 7 Activists protest demanding climate action and Loss and Damage. 12 November, 2022.

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IMAGO / NurPhoto / Dominika Zarzycka| COP27 In Sharm El Sheikh – Day 7 Activists protest demanding climate action and Loss and Damage. 12 November, 2022.

Another aspect of the conference and something climate activism has also begun to address in recent years, is the impacts of human rights in the climate crisis. Agriculture, clean air and water, infrastructure, energy, food security, economy and more, are suffering due to climate change and impacting billions of people worldwide. Increasing the resilience and preparation of the 4 billion people living in vulnerable areas subject to climate change by 2030, was part of the conference’s ‘Adaption Agenda’ as well. Deforestation being one of the major climate related reasons for mass migrations, the conference also held the first meeting of the Forest and Climate Leaders’ partnership chaired by Ghana and the United States, in light of last year’s COP26 pledge to end deforestation by 2030.

IMAGO’s partners on-the-ground in Egypt have not only covered the different panels and speeches by world leaders at COP27, but also the activists demanding that the promises made are followed through.

Update: the conference was extended into Sunday November 20, as debates went on until a landmark deal was signed, known as the Loss and Damage Fund, to help billions of people living in countries in the Global South deal with climate-related impacts such as natural disasters, food and water shortages, extreme weather and more. 

See our picture desk events coverage and curated collections.
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IMAGO / TT / Henrik Montgomery | Patience Nabukalu from Fridays for future in Kampala, Uganda, marches for the climate and Loss and damage, at the UN climate meeting COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. 18 November, 2022.

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IMAGO / Xinhua / Sui Xiankai | Participants enjoy the sunset at the venue of the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Nov. 14, 2022.

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IMAGO / photothek / Thomas Trutschel | Annalena Baerbock, German Foreign Minister, gives press statement at the end of the COP27 Climate Conference Sharm el Sheikh. 20 November, 2022.

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IMAGO / NTB / Javad Parsa | Climate summit COP27 in Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. 7 November, 2022.

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IMAGO / TT / Henrik Montgomery | Climate summit COP27 in Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt. 14 November, 2022.

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IMAGO / NurPhoto / Dominika Zarzycka| Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine delivers his national statement with video address during the High-Level Segment for Heads of State and Government summit on the third day of the COP27 UN Climate Change Conference. 8 November, 2022.

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IMAGO / Zuma Wire / Dominika Zarzycka| Participants in Climate Justice Pavilion on the second day of the COP27 UN Climate Change Conference. 7 November, 2022.

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IMAGO / NurPhoto / Dominika Zarzycka| Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission delivers the statement during the High-Level Segment for Heads of State and Government summit on the third day of the COP27. 8 November, 2022.

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IMAGO / NurPhoto / Dominika Zarzycka| COP27 In Sharm El Sheikh – Green Zone Visitors walk in the evening in the Green Zone of the COP27 UN Climate Change Conference. 14 November, 2022.

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IMAGO / NurPhoto / Dominika Zarzycka| Young participants paint a wall of Youth and Children Pavilion during the COP27 UN Climate Change Conference, held by UNFCCC in Sharm El-Sheikh International Convention Center, Egypt. 14 November, 2022.

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IMAGO / UPI / Kareem Ahmed | US President Joe Biden delivers a speech during the COP27 climate conference in Egypt. 11 November, 2022.

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IMAGO / NurPhoto / Dominika Zarzycka| Day 4 Participants rest in a pavilion in the Green Zone on the fourth day of the COP27 UN Climate Change Conference. 10 November, 2022.

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IMAGO / NurPhoto / Dominika Zarzycka| Activists protest demanding climate action and Loss and Damage reparations on the seventh day of the COP27 UN Climate Change Conference. 12 November, 2022.

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IMAGO / NurPhoto / Dominika Zarzycka| Day 4 Participants stand in front of the main entrance of COP27 venue on the fourth day of the COP27 UN Climate Change Conference. 10 November, 2022.

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IMAGO / NTB / Javad Parsa | German Chancellor Olaf Scholz during Climate Summit COP27 in Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt. 8 November, 2022.

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IMAGO / NTB / Javad Parsa | Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store t v and his British colleague Rishi Sunak were among the participants at the forest event in Sharm el Sheikh. 7 November, 2022.

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IMAGO / NurPhoto / Dominika Zarzycka| Activists protest demanding Loss and Damage reparations on the fifth day of the COP27 UN Climate Change Conference. 11 November, 2022.

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IMAGO / Cover-Images | After UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reminded negotiators that the climate clock is ticking, activists and politicians have been displaying a ‘climate clock’ at the COP27 Climate Conference in Egypt. 18 November, 2022.

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IMAGO / Xinhua / Sui Xiankai | The 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change concluded on Sunday in Egypt. 20 November, 2022.

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IMAGO / NTB / Javad Parsa | Climate summit COP27 in Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt. 6 November, 2022.

Other previous articles on climate change include:

Germany’s New Normal: Climate, politics and the 2021 flood disaster

COP23: Kyoto Protocol, 1997. 

After the scorch an interivew with Dominika Zarzycka. 

 Article and image selections by Sofia Bergmann.