Commenting on COP27 so far, Richard Smith, partner at Sandstone Law, said:
“Since COP26 there has been progress but it is still not fast enough. The UN has warned that based on countries’ latest climate action plans, there is currently no credible pathway to meet the 1.5C goal intended to avoid the worst impacts of global warming.
The COP27 agenda will highlight calls to reduce emissions, help countries deal with climate change, and secure technical support and funding for developing countries. This is essential as the UN’s weather and climate body recently released a report showing that the rate at which sea levels are rising has doubled since 1993.
It is disappointing that China and India, the world’s biggest burners of coal are not present. Nor is Russia, the biggest producer of hydrocarbons in the world. Australia is not there despite being among the top five producers of coal in the world. Nor is Canada, which remains a big oil producer.
It is good that Sunak is there, but he has a reputation as a ditherer. He needs to be decisive and show leadership in dealing with the more difficult international issues across the world. A lot of promises were made in Glasgow last year and this COP is supposed to focus on implementation. We will see what transpires over the next few days.”
