Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, is expected to be officially announced on Nov. 18 as the host city of the 2027 U.N. climate conference, or COP32. Backed by the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change, the expected decision would mark the international climate summit’s return to the African continent after COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in 2022. “As host of the next COP, Ethiopia now has a vital platform to amplify African voices and priorities, particularly around adaptation finance, renewable energy access, and climate justice,” Mohamed Adow, director of the think tank Power Shift Africa, said in an official statement from the group. “It could also spotlight Africa’s capacity for innovation and its determination to move from vulnerability to strength in the face of global climate disruption.” The annual COPs bring together the member states to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to negotiate global climate goals and commitments. Each year, the host country rotates among the U.N.’s five regional groups: Western Europe, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Eastern Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean. Each regional group proposes a host country, the COP considers the proposals and accepts one of the offers, then the UNFCCC Secretariat must undertake a fact-finding mission to ensure the proposed host is suitable. Despite the stated rotation, Africa has hosted less than its share of global climate conferences. Since the first COP in 1995, the event has been held on the continent just five times, including twice in Marrakech, Morocco (COP7 and COP22).…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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