COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh: What you need to know about the UN climate summit

United Nations' 27th annual UN meeting on climate, COP27, opened in Egypt's Sharm El-Sheikh on Sunday (November 6). Delegates from nearly 200 countries are participating in the summit that will end on November 18.

The UN climate chief  Simon Stiell said that the leaders would be held to account for promises they made last year in Glasgow.

What is the UN climate summit? The UN's climate summits are organised every year so that leaders worldwide can discuss the climate change situation, how it is affecting us and what can be done to limit global temperature rises.

The summits are called COPs, which stands for "Conference of the Parties". A UN climate agreement was signed in 1992 by the attending countries and every year, the nations' representatives meet to discuss the climate situation.

Emblematic glaciers set to vanish by 2050.#AFPGraphics map locating the glaciers at 17 World Heritage sites that are set to disappear by 2050, according to UNESCO pic.twitter.com/mu6Edoa14Z

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) November 7, 2022

COP 27: During the COP27 in Egypt, countries have agreed to discuss compensating poor nations for mounting damage linked to global warming. Developed and wealthy nations have been rejecting official discussions on what is referred to as 'loss and damage', the term used to describe rich nations paying out funds to help poor countries cope with the consequences of global warming, reported Reuters.

At COP26 last year in Glasgow, high-income nations, including the United States and the European Union had blocked a proposal for a loss and damage financing body.

What is ‘loss and damage’? Loss and damage is a term used to refer to the consequences of climate change that go beyond what people can adapt to or don't have the resources to access to adapt to such changes. Climate change, through extreme weather events such as tropical cyclones, desertification, and rising sea levels, causes costly damage to many countries.

Financing or a new fund for addressing loss and damage -- for example money needed for relocating people displaced by floods -- has been a long-pending demand of poor and developing countries, including India. But rich countries have avoided discussions on it for over a decade, reported PTI.

India's stand on 'loss and damage': India's Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said that India welcomes the adoption of agenda item ‘loss and damage’ at COP27.

"With the inclusion of this agenda item, India will be engaging constructively and actively on the subject during the course of discussions at COP27 and hoping that fair negotiations on loss and damage follow," read a blog post written by the minister.

No backsliding: The UN climate change chief dubbing himself an “accountability chief”, said that 29 countries have now come forward with tightened national climate plans since COP26, five more since the publication of last week’s UNFCCC NDC Synthesis report, but still not a majority.

He reminded delegates that last year the Glasgow Climate Pact was agreed upon at COP26, and he expected them not to rescind their word. “Stick to your commitments. Build on them here in Egypt. I will not be a custodian of back-sliding,” he said.