Every year, hundreds of world leaders and thousands of other actors meet under the UN Climate Change Conference (COP) to find solutions to one of the most pressing challenges of our times. In 2022, Egypt hosted the 27^th Conference (COP27) in Sharm el Sheikh. Egypt was the fifth African country to host the Conference. Informed by a need to urgently address a wide range of urgent issues for the African continent that previous COPs had failed to address, African civil society actors dubbed COP27 the “African People’s COP”. The Sharm el Sheikh Implementation Plan (SHIP) adopted at the end of the Conference contained decisions or policy directions likely to shape actions to address the climate crisis for decades. Not everyone was happy with all parts of the Plan.

A significant outcome of COP27 was an agreement to provide money for climate change impacts in developing countries or a loss and damage fund. The Conference also recommended more straightforward procedures and operational models to ease access to climate finance, especially for African countries. The Adaptation Fund got $230 million in pledges. If things go as planned, discussions of the Global Goal on Adaptation could finish next year. In some ways, these were wins for Africa since loss and damage and adaptation are critical to addressing the climate crises in the region.Download Concept Note