The BIC notes that, with two days of delay, the final text of the COP27, the Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan, was agreed by all Parties on the 20th of November 2022. Among significant outcomes, the agreement reaffirms commitments towards achieving the target +1.5°C set by the Paris Agreements in 2015. However, this key pillar of global climate action was worryingly put into question during the negotiations.

As forecasted, discussions at COP27 this year were mainly articulated around the issues of green financing and loss and damage in developing countries, topics that are underpinning the broader question of climate justice. After two weeks of tense and polarized negotiations, final deliberations are coming to an end, with probably no great achievements expected this year.

The biggest climate event of the year began yesterday, 06 November, in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. This year, the agenda of the COP27 will primarily focus on the issue of policy implementation; including the thorny topics of green financing, mitigation, adaptation and loss and damages affecting developing countries. However, there are still difficult questions facing the international community in its efforts to combat climate change which will need to be addressed throughout the event.

“Today - courage has a name, and that name is Ukraine.” 

On 13 July 2022, the Brussels International Center (BIC) organized a webinar event called “The Water-Climate Nexus: Avenues for EU-MENA Cooperation” that gathered experts on the different levels of climate change and water scarcity through the lens of inter-continental EU-MENA cooperation.