British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists will participate in the 27th session of the United National Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP27), hosted by the Arab Republic of Egypt from 6 – 18 November 2022 at the Sharm el-Sheikh International Convention Centre.
BAS scientists in the fields of glaciology, oceanography, ecology and climate change will participate in at COP27, including talks throughout the meeting in the Ocean and Cryosphere Pavillions, which are housed in the Blue Zone.
Professor Mike Meredith, a senior oceanographer and head of the Polar Oceans team is at the meeting along with colleagues. He was author on an assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2019, the UN body assessing the science related to climate change. The IPCC reports are key to international climate change negotiations and provide governments around the world and at all levels with scientific information that they can use to develop climate policies.
The UN's World Meteorological Organization (WMO) published an assessment on the first day of COP27 to highlight how the last eight years have been among the hottest on record and how the climate crisis continues to be a major problem for society.
Professor Mike Meredith responded to the WMO's assessment. He says:
"The messages in this report could barely be bleaker - all over our planet, records are being shattered as different parts of the climate system begin to break down. The loss of ice in the Polar Regions and high mountains is especially alarming as the impacts on people, societies and economies are huge. If this doesn't focus the minds of the global leaders at Cop27, I don't know what will."
You can watch the COP27 climate talks via the live stream here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnsBzdMZ96g
