We are all aware of the climate change problem. Some of us are already facing the brunt of it - floods, rising temperatures, wildfires. Its, therefore, important for us to be a part of the conversation. But with so many technical lingo, and endless acronyms being used in the conversation, we're often lost and have little sense of what's going on at COP27.

Many of you may probably have no idea about what even COP27 means. Don't worry, here's your guide to everything you need to know about COP27, including the commonly used climate terms that'll help you follow the conversation and developments during and after this climate conference. Let's get to it...

In this article:

·     What is COP27?

·     COP27: Agenda?

·     Some commonly used lingo during COP27 that you should know.....

·     COP27 – A reality check

·     How can I participate in COP27?

What is COP27?

COP27 event is an annual conference attended by the world leaders that signed the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) in 1992. 198 countries are members to it.

COP stands for Conference of the Parties, and 
27 means it is the 27th meeting

It is being attended by world governments {politicians and people in power}, businesses, scientists and environmental organisations and activists. The last conference, COP26, was held in Glasgow in 2021 and was attended by 120 world leaders and representatives from almost 200 countries.

Ice caps are melting, sea levels are rising. We are already seeing floods, hurricanes, wildfires, earthquakes, rising world hunger, and water scarcity. Europe witnesses its hottest summer in 500 years, a third of Pakistan flooded and the Hurricane Ian in the United States gave a wakeup call that no country and no economy is immune from the climate crisis.

Greenhouse‑gas emissions from fossil-fuel burning and deforestation are choking our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk.

The aim of this conference is to figure out how to slow down global warming and decide on how to prevent climate change and gear-up for its impact.

Did you know? The world is now about 1.2celsius warmer than it was in the 19th Century - and the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has risen by 50%

Now it's time for action by the countries to put people over profits and put humanity at the centre of every decision-making...… this conference is {hopefully} all about that. 

COP27: Agenda?

Cop27 holds a special significance because of its focus on the African countries, which are the most vulnerable to climate change despite being the lowest emitters. These countries are also the most ill-equipped to handle environmental disasters.

The focus of this year’s conference is to accelerate global climate action through emissions reduction, scaled-up adaptation efforts and enhanced flows of appropriate finance. The Egyptian COP27 Presidency has defined the summit’s four key goals as:

• Mitigation: All parties, especially those in a position to “lead by example”, are urged to take “bold and immediate actions” and to reduce emissions to limit global warming well below 2°C.

• Adaptation: Ensure that COP27 makes the “crucially needed progress” towards enhancing climate change resilience and assisting the world’s most vulnerable communities.

• Finance: Make significant progress on climate finance, including the delivery of the promised $100 billion per year to assist developing countries.

• Collaboration: As the UN negotiations are consensus-based, reaching agreement will require “inclusive and active participation from all stakeholders”.

What is net zero?

There's a lot of talks about net-zero during the conversations of COP27, but what really is it? In simple terms, net-zero is removing as much greenhouse gas from the atmosphere as is produced. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is called the greenhouse gas because it is one of the gases in the atmosphere that warms the Earth by trapping the heat in it's atmosphere.

Now if you will ask me, isn't carbon dioxide released naturally? Yes, it does but we humans have increased CO2 in the atmosphere by more than a third by burning fossil fuels like coal and oil.

Here are some of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas effect:

• Burning fossil fuel for transportation
• Electricity production (mainly through coal and natural gas)
• Animal agriculture
• Industries
• Commercial and Residential (mainly fossil fuel burned for heat, waste handling)

(Source: EPA)

Your COP27 Cheat Sheet: Climate Change Glossary

Here are commonly used terms and acronyms, which will help you get a better understanding of the Climate Change debate.

Adaptation: Any action that allows us to continue to meet our basic needs {like food, water, shelter, and health} by adjusting to actual or expected climatic changes. These actions might include building early warning systems for floods, or barriers to defend against rising sea level, for example.

Biodiversity: It refers to all Earth’s living systems including plants, trees and animals, on land and in the sea.

Carbon Footprint: It is a form of calculation of the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of the activities of an individual, organization, or community.

Carbon Offsetting: The action or process of compensating for carbon dioxide emissions arising from industrial or other human activity, by participating in schemes designed to make equivalent reductions of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Companies, governments and, even, individuals can cancel out the impact of some of their emissions by investing in projects that reduce or store carbon like forest preservation and tree plantation.

Climate Finance: Financial aid provided to tackle climate change. This aid is aimed to be used by developing nations to reduce carbon emissions and to promote ways in which to adapt, mitigate and build resilience to the effects of climate change. Green Climate Fund (GCF) was set up in COP16 in Mexico, by the developed countries for the same purpose.

Delegate: A person who is sent to represent a country at COP.

Fossil-Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty: A legally binding plan to phase-out fossil fuels and accelerate an equitable transition.

Global Stocktake: A process of assessing global progress towards achieving the long-term goals of Paris Agreement.

Global Warming: Global warming is the long-term heating of the planet, and is commonly measured as the average increase in earth’s global surface temperature. It is human-induced, and is largely caused by an excess of greenhouse gas emissions. Heat-trapping pollutants — mainly carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, water vapor, and synthetic fluorinated gases—are known as greenhouse gases.

Green Bonds: Green bonds are fixed-income instrument specifically earmarked to finance climate and environmental projects. They work like any other corporate or government bond with borrowers issuing them to secure financing for projects that will have a positive environmental impact.

Green Zone: A dedicated area where the youth groups, public, civil society, Indigenous Peoples, charities, academics, artists and businesses can have their voices heard at COP27, through an extensive program of events, workshops, talks, and exhibitions that promote dialogue, awareness, education, and commitments.

IPCC: Short for Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It is a United Nations body that assess the science related to climate change.

Loss and Damage: A term used to refer to the consequences of climate change that people can’t adapt to, or when options exist but the communications affected don’t have access to them.

Mitigation: Any action which helps to slow climate change either by decreasing greenhouse emissions or removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

NDCs: Short for Nationally Determined Contributions. These are climate action plans by individual countries to reduce national greenhouse emissions and adapt to the effects of climate change under the Paris Agreement. They’re updated every five years to ensure they’re in line with global temperature targets.

Net-Zero: A balance between the amount of greenhouse gases produced and removed from the atmosphere. In other words, net zero is the amount of carbon we put into the atmosphere is the same as the amount we remove.

Over 130 countries have committed to, or are considering committing to, net-zero emissions by 2050. India aims to reach net zero by 2070.

Paris Agreement: The Paris Agreement is an international agreement to tackle climate change, adopted in 2015's COP21 summit attended by 196 countries in Paris - hence the name. The Paris Agreement requires countries to:

• Reduce the amount of harmful greenhouse gasses produced and increase renewable types of energy like wind, solar, and wave power 
• Limit global warming to well below 2C (3.6F), preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius (pre-industrial levels) 
• Review progress made on the agreement every five years 
• Support each other through finance, technology and capacity building.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Seventeen interlinked goals set by the United Nations that serve as a call to action by all countries to end poverty, inequality, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy health, justice and prosperity.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): An overarching treaty to address climate change.

COP27 – A reality check

This year’s climate conference is sponsored by one of the biggest climate change offenders – Coca Cola. Coca Cola has been ranked as one of the world’s largest plastic polluters for four years straight. It’s ironic that a company so tied to the fossil fuel industry is allowed to sponsor such a vital climate meeting.

Besides, despite all the backlash from last year’s conference, this year again there is meat on the menu. It’s a well-established fact that animal agriculture and meat production is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse emissions. Scientists around the world are urging people to switch to a more plant-based diet to fight climate change. Yet, the climate conference failed to set an example.

A real missed opportunity. Leaders could have led by example, showcasing how switching to low-impact plant-based diet can make a huge difference to the future of our planet. And that it is delicious too!

The leaders need to keep politics aside and be more passionate and committed to the cause.

How can I participate in COP27?

The onus lies not just on these leaders but us too. We can’t be a desk jockey any longer or a spectator to the climate catastrophe, because it is us who will face the consequences and our future generations.

Every individual, town, city, province, country and continent has one simple task to tackle climate change: act. And there is no escaping. Coordinated global action is our best hope for keeping the climate within safe boundaries for humans and other planet inhabitants.

Just simple changes by each one of us can have a huge impact on global warming levels. One change by 7.8 billion of us trickles down to a big impact - don't you agree?

I am not talking about ground-breaking efforts but simple things like eating more plant-based foods, installing water purifier and carrying your own water bottle, using public transport, moving away from gas heating, and not taking as many flights in the future.

Here are a few things you must start with right away.

1. Sign and amplify the fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty: This is a global initiative to rapidly phase out fossil fuels and prioritise a just transition. Sign up for it now.
2. Join a climate group and push for climate policies: Activism is the most powerful way to push for climate change actions. Engage with a climate group and amplify your voice and theirs. Find one in your local area and or start organising your own climate action initiatives.
3. Rethink your diet: Animal agriculture is the greatest driver behind deforestation and one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse emissions and water pollution. Time to switch to a plant-based diet and ditch meat, dairy, and fish.
4. Reduce and eliminate plastic use: Avoid single-use plastics like bottles, straws cutlery, packaging. Educate those around you on the importance of reducing single-use plastic consumption including your family, friends, and restaurants. Plastic is made from petroleum and, in the US alone, only 9% of the plastic ever produced got recycled. So, imagine where did the rest go? 
5. Change your commuting habits: Transportation is the biggest contributor to the climate problems we are facing - global warming. Let's change our commuting habits - use public transportation, ride a bike, walk where you can, create carpooling groups in your communities, go for shared taxis, and when you absolutely need to buy a new car - choose electric (better if it is a pre-owned electric).
6. Support the right brands: Every time we spend money, we’re casting a vote for the kind of world we want to create. So let’s support companies that are genuinely committed to sustainability and take steps in the right direction. You can find information about their commitments and actual actions through various online resources, including company’s website and their sustainability reports.

5. Change consumption habits: Whether you are shopping for your wardrobe, home or kitchen be mindful. We often engage in excesses - too much food that ends up in the bin eventually, too many clothes in our overflowing wardrobes that have barely been worn (some with still tags intact), too many shoes that we hardly use or need. All of this ends up in landfills creating an environmental crisis.