World leaders will descend on Sharm el-Sheikh from Sunday to discuss cutting their nation's emissions as part of the COP27 climate summit.
Lasting a week, the event at the Egyptian resort will see high-level talks among nations in a bid to cut back on man-made activities that are causing global temperatures to rise.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reluctantly agreed to attend after his administration came under pressure following his suggestion, after being appointed by Tory MPs last month, that he wouldn’t be travelling to the summit.
Boris Johnson, one of Mr Sunak’s predecessors, has also confirmed he will attend and plans to meet with world leaders as he looks to keep his profile on the global stage.
The move put pressure on Mr Sunak to U-turn and book flights to Egypt.
What is COP27?
COP27 is the next in the row of annual climate summits organised by the United Nations.
The event follows on from last year’s COP26 gathering, which was held in Glasgow.
The UK helped influence major economies, including India and Japan, to set targets for having a carbon neutral — known as net-zero — economy.
There were also pledges to commit more money into helping developing nations switch to from fossil fuel energy to renewables.
While there were commitments on coal-use reductions, India and China colluded to water down the promises made — a compromise that brought UK COP26 President Alok Sharma to tears.
The Scottish summit handed over a number of issues to the follow-up event in Sharm el-Sheikh, as leading nations look to prevent global temperatures from rising above 1.5C.
If they go up further than that, then climate experts at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predict that the world’s population could be exposed to life-threatening heat and humidity.
COP27 will see Egypt chair discussions as countries look at plans to reduce carbon emissions and achieve net-zero by 2050.
Why is COP27 being held in Egypt?
Each “COP” — short for Conference of the Parties — is hosted by a different country, with it Egypt's turn to organise and preside over the talks this November.
It was the UK’s turn last year after COP26 had to be delayed by 12 months due to the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020.
In 2019, Madrid played host to the international gathering.
France’s capital, Paris, still lends its name to one of the most important climate treaties in modern times after hosting COP21 in 2015.
The Paris Agreement which was drawn up that year saw an international commitment to keeping global warming at 1.5C-2C, with its terms still being acted upon today.
Once the gathering in Sharm-el-Sheik is over, the mantle will pass to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where COP28 is due to be held in 2023.
There has been criticism of the costs involved with attending the Egyptian event this autumn.
Following Mr Sunak’s original suggestion that he would not attend, former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg tweeted his support.
He said: “The Prime Minister is right not to go to COP.
“The cost of living won’t be solved in Sharm el Sheikh where each hotel room for the conference is £2,000 a night.”
Ironically, Mr Sunak has since signed-up to attend, having been put under pressure by his environmental advisor, campaigners and his political rival Boris Johnson’s decision to fly out for it.
The PM said he planned to go in order to “deliver on Glasgow's legacy of building a secure and sustainable future”.
Wil King Charles attend COP27?
When he was Prince of Wales, Charles was outspoken on environmental issues and attended COP26 in Glasgow to show his support for action on climate change.
There had been speculation that, now he is King, he was keen to show his face in Sharm-el-Sheik.
But the short-lived former Prime Minister Liz Truss reportedly talked him out of travelling to north Africa.
With her successor Mr Sunak finally agreeing to attend, that opened the door to Buckingham Palace organising for Charles III to go as well.
But Downing Street on Thursday (November 3 ) said it was no longer “logistically feasible” for the King to join the international gathering at the Red Sea resort.
Instead, he will host a Buckingham Palace reception for business figures from across the globe and charities and campaign groups ahead of the UN summit.
Charles will welcome more than 200 guests to the royal residence, along with the UK’s COP26 president Alok Sharma and US special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry.
