IT FEELS LIKE yesterday that we were discussing what big promises world leaders were going to make at COP26 in the UK, led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

But enough time has passed that Johnson is no longer PM and his successor Rishi Sunak created drama by saying he wasn’t even going to attend COP this year. But as is the way in British politics at the moment, a U-turn ensued and he’ll be on a plane to Egypt this weekend.

So, what’s he going to be met with there? What are we expecting out of COP27 as the world continues to hurtle toward climate catastrophe?

And what’s Ireland place in all of this?

Our reporter and author of climate newsletter Temperature Check Lauren Boland joins us on this week’s episode of The Explainer to examine what the conference will bring.

https://soundcloud.com/the-explainer-podcast/what-will-the-cop27-climate-summit-focus-on/s-tBXkDTqH40a?si=9a3b3c63ec9f4aaa828eb4e4a0afdc88&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

This episode was put together by presenter Sinéad O’Carroll, and producers Aoife Barry and Nicky Ryan.

The Journal will be attending the conference to bring you the details of what’s happening at the high-level discussions but also on the ground.

Is there any sense of hope among attendees? What do experts think about the discussions between governments? Are activists able to protest freely?

We’ll have updates for you on our website and social media as well as our climate newsletter Temperature Check, which you can sign up for here.