The 27th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27) climate negotiations took place in November 2022 in Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt).
COP27 ran as climate impacts raged across the globe, underscoring that climate change is a human rights crisis. The only way out is by acting urgently to keep warming below 1.5°C, centering people in responses to the climate emergency, and equitably addressing its mounting impacts. To do so requires: rapidly and equitably phasing out fossil fuels, rejecting speculative techno-fixes and far-off promises of mid-century “net-zero” without accountability, implementing human rights-based climate action, and at the same time providing remedy for those people whose rights are already being harmed and whose lives and livelihoods face existential threats.
Our briefing note “Promoting Human Rights in Climate Action: Report from the Sharm el-Sheikh climate conference COP27” summarizes key developments from COP27 concerning the integration of human rights in climate policies.
The briefing note provides a short analysis of the COP27 outcomes in relation to agenda items with particular relevance to human rights, recognizing that this is a narrow but essential lens to look at the climate negotiations. It also discusses the backdrop of the negotiations, as these elements are important to remember when analyzing the outcomes.
Read the briefing note.