The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP27, kicked off on Sunday in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, bringing 198 countries together to negotiate the next batch of global climate agreements. And in setting the stage for the conference, one word has stood out among the rest: implementation. Executive Secretary of the UN Climate Convention Simon Stiell opened the conference saying, “Today a new era begins — and we begin to do things differently. Paris gave us the agreement. Katowice and Glasgow gave us the plan. Sharm el-Sheik shifts us to implementation.” After years of pledges looking decades into the future, an implementation-focused conference may sound exciting, but there’s still a few things to clear up. Ethan discusses where current plans fall short, which issues don’t have plans at all yet, and more optimistically, why it would be wrong to say this is the “first” talk of implementation in this week’s “Tip of the Iceberg.”
The Sweaty Penguin is presented by Peril and Promise: a public media initiative from The WNET Group in New York, reporting on the issues and solutions around climate change. You can learn more at pbs.org/perilandpromise.
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CREDITS
Writer: Ethan Brown
Fact Checker: Ysabel Wulfing
Editor: Megan Antone
Producers: Ethan Brown, Megan Crimmins, Shannon Damiano, Maddy Schmidt
Ad Voiceover: Megan Antone
Music: Brett Sawka
The opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the host and guests. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of Peril and Promise or The WNET Group.