Approaching the plenary was United States president Joe Biden, who following mid-term elections in the US had acquired a special slot for addressing COP on 11 November, days later than the regular World Leaders Summit that opens the conference each year.
At the same time outside, hundreds of climate protestors, led by seven women from the global south, were staging a symbolic flooding of the COP venue, to bring home the message of how the climate crisis impacts vulnerable communities worldwide, many of whose voices seem not to be heard within the walls of negotiation rooms at the annual climate conference.
The call for so-called loss and damage finance remains high on the civil society agenda at COP, as there are consequences of climate change that simply cannot be resolved by vulnerable communities adapting to changing weather patterns.
COP27 in Egypt and its slogan ‘Together for implementation’ rings of a Paris rule book completed in Glasgow 2021, but whose fruits are yet to be seen by communities around the globe, and the justice issue of those who have done the least to drive escalating global temperatures on suffering the most from the consequences continues to loom over negotiations.
As expressed in a statement by the World Council of Churches executive committee on 12 November, there are communities and nations already facing catastrophic impacts of climate change but whose urgent appeals other members of the international community have failed to heed.
At the same time, the 27th COP is taking place in a context where civil society’s limited opportunities to speak up publicly have been widely criticized.
What is more, COP27 has turned out to be the most heavily infested one so far by delegates related to the fossil fuel industry – raising questions about the legitimacy of the negotiations.
Yet the voices of civil society continue to cry out in Sharm el-Sheikh.
And as people gathered for the traditional COP climate march – normally held in the heart of the hosting city but this year confined to the perimeters of the venue of COP27 itself – faith communities were represented right at the front line.
Held on the grounds of the Coptic Orthodox Church’s Heavenly Cathedral in Sharm el-Sheikh on 13 November, an ecumenical prayer service also heard representatives from various church traditions speak words of repentance and forgiveness, while praying to the Lord for guidance in caring for the Earth.
“Our love for authority and power has pushed the planet beyond its limits. Our consumption became inconsistent with the rhythm of the earth and its ability to heal itself, so many species became extinct, and systems and habitats that were vibrant with life from the bottom of the seas and oceans to the tops of the mountains collapsed”, the prayer read, and continued: “We are enriched by your grace in the new covenants to take care of our common homes and live our vocation. Thank you for choosing us to work and save the earth…”