Transform logo

COP Events

mask overlay
Photo representing COP Events

COP Events

COP28 cover text explained

As COP28 begins in Dubai today, IEMA's Digital Journalist Tom Pashby unpacks what COP will involve, what the COP 'cover text' is, and its purpose, as IEMA advocates for a commitment to expanding resources dedicated to green jobs & green skills. Read here.

New IEMA briefing on COP28

IEMA is delighted to introduce a new guide to COP 28, the UN climate conference being held in the UAE from November 28th to December 10th. In this blog Chloë Fiddy, IEMA policy and engagement lead on climate change and energy, highlights the topics that will be exercising the negotiators and IEMA’s calls for a step-change in the way green skills are prioritised. Read here.


IEMA’s campaign for green skills commitment at COP28 gains support

More than 40 organisations and businesses have backed IEMA’s campaign to get green skills and training on the agenda at COP28, including Nestle UK, the British Chambers of Commerce, and OVO Energy. IEMA's TRANSFORM magazine Deputy Editor Chris Seekings reports.

IEMA guide to COP 15 - Will this be the Paris Agreement for nature?

IEMA is delighted to introduce a new guide to COP 15, the UN biodiversity conference held in Montreal from 7th – 19th December 2022.

This paper intends to unpack what’s going on at this hugely significant event and, most importantly, why it’s relevant to the risks and opportunities around nature faced by you and your business and why COP 15 might be the new Paris Agreement.

This guide will look at the Global Biodiversity Framework and its targets, what needs to be achieved, transformational actions, and more.

Download your copy here.

COP27 Interviews

IEMA's Digital Journalist Tom Pashby attended the 1st week of COP27 and spoke with people about what they hoped to see and achieve. They spoke with Anita Valente da Costa from Brazil, founder of the eco-social enterprise Bauhinia and Representative of Brazil in the WWF Eat4Change program. Anita is the winner of the World Organization of the Scout Movement Project for the Planet campaign and will represent WOSM at COP27. Find out more about Anita's project here.

Here she speaks with Tom about the important space for discussion that COP27 provides and the vital role young people play in actioning change for a better future.


Tom also spoke with Grecia Bárcena, a lifelong youth activist and nature lover. She is the co-founder of Mexico’s national chapter from the Global Youth Biodiversity Network and a member of its global steering committee, where she has had the privilege to represent youth in several negotiation processes with the United Nations. She is a member of 10,000 Women United for Mexico where she raises awareness among businesswomen to protect the environment. She is currently in the process of establishing a social enterprise focused on sustainable tourism that will support local and indigenous communities through sustainable travel experiences.

Grecia holds a degree in International Business with a minor in Global Issues from Instituto Tecnologico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. For the last 20 years, Scouting has been an integral part of her life, allowing her to grow up with a very holistic vision of life and self-responsibility to always make an impact in her community. Alongside an outstanding team of volunteers, she just finished a 7-year journey organizing the 24th World Scout Jamboree, the largest event in Scouting and the largest global youth gathering in 2019.

Here she speaks with Tom about the work that the Scout Organisation are doing in helping young people develop sustainable skills. You can find out more about the work she is involved in here.

Tom spoke with IEMA member Laura Young, PHD researcher in nature-based solutions and an ambassador for a charity looking at climate finance and attending COP27 to see how progression within this area can be made. Laura speaks with Tom about how she's feeling about potential outcomes from COP and that true change can come from optimism rather than pessimism.

Tom speaks with IEMA member and environmentalist Cyprian Kiteng'e, a certified environmental associate consultant at Devlink Resources consultants and at the ESF consultants where he currently works on a contractual basis. He is registered and licensed to practice in Kenya through the National Environment Management Authority. He is a member of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment. He is an ardent advocate for environmental sustainability and care for creation.

Lusine Manucharyan PIEMA speaks to IEMA's Tom Pashby about her work for Armenian mining company Zangezour Copper Molybdenum Combine and the professional and personal development she has received from IEMA whilst working there. She discusses how she has started an advisory group in order to bring IEMA members together to discuss climate change, mitigations, and policymaking and how COP needs to bring the world together to action change.

CEO of East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce, Miranda Barker OBE about low-carbon technologies and manufacturing, and her concerns for COP27 and the danger of rolling back from the 1.5 target.

Thomas Kankam Adjei, PIEMA spoke with Tom Pashby about being part of the Ghana delegation at COP27 and hopes that as an #AfricaCOP, the finance needed to bridge the gap between adaptation and mitigation will be attained.

Alphonce Munyao spoke with IEMA about attending COP27, their hopes for outcomes & the implementation of policies being discussed.

Alphonce is a Kenyan volunteer at the Catholic Youth Network for Environmental Sustainability in Africa and a member of the UNEP Children and Youth Major Group global steering committee(the official youth engagement mechanism to UNEP) where he serves as the environment and faith facilitator. In the steering committee, he has also been active on Stockholm+50 and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration processes youth engagement framework. He has been recently been selected to serve in the Sustainable Production and Consumption Youth coordination team.

Alphonce’s passions and commitment have made him develop his expertise in various realms including Environmental policy, advocacy and other sustainability and ecological topics and he is interested in bridging the gap between environmental policies formulation and implementation, especially with the base of young people.

He holds a Bsc. Environmental Science and several certificates in environmental multilateralism.

Regional Chief Terry Teegee, Assembly of Nations discusses the importance of listening to Indigenous peoples around conserving biodiverse areas that are integral to their way of life and the urgency of this being actioned by policymakers at COP27.

As IEMA represented members in Sharm El-Sheikh, we were delighted to be joined and supported by Rania Fawzan from Ain Shams University who spoke alongside us on Green Jobs and Green Skills.

IEMA member Carlos Shanka B. spoke with IEMA's Digital Journalist Tom Pashby about his work with the youth constituency of the UNFCCC and ClientEarth and the importance of financial support coming from the Global North to the Global South and key decisions and implementations from COP27.

IEMA board member and Chief Sustainability Officer Mattie Yeta PhD CGI spoke with Tom Pashby about partnering with the host nation and UNFCCC UN to demonstrate the role of technology, implementation of NDCs, and keeping 1.5 alive with Green Skills.

COP27 Blogs/News

IEMA - IEMA CEO Sarah Mukherjee MBE reflects on the final discussions at COP27

IEMA - 'COP negotiations are never linear' says IEMA CEO Sarah Mukherjee MBE

IEMA - Energy Day at COP27: Journey to Net Zero

IEMA - IEMA's CEO at COP27: Gender and Water day: equal opportunities for all?

IEMA - COP27: IEMA promotes green skills with Ain Shams University

IEMA - COP27: First impressions on day one of my visit to Egypt for the climate summit

IEMA - COP27 must deliver concrete progress on emissions pledges, climate finance and climate adaptation

IEMA - COP26 president calls for Paris Agreement to be “baseline” of climate ambition in IEMA speech

News updates

During today's Prime Minister's Questions, PM Rishi Sunak stated that the war in Ukraine should catalyse efforts to tackle climate change. Reacting to the discussion, IEMA CEO, Sarah Mukherjee MBE, said:

“The prime minister is right to say that climate security and energy security go hand in hand.

“Moving away from fossil fuels to more renewable forms of power is critical for the climate and for energy security. However, we must recognise that this is easier for wealthier economies, and less so for developing nations.

“If we are going to solve the global climate crisis, then the key outcome of COP27 must be a pathway forward for all countries to have access to the investment that is required to decarbonise.”

IEMA's Martin Baxter reflects on the Green Zone session on career transitions for a sustainable future and #all jobs greener' and the encouragement in having the chance to learn from others and share insights from IEMA at COP27.

We also hear from Professor Ali Nassar Hussan FIEMA from Ain Shams University in Egypt, who spoke at the Green Zone event who speaks about the work they are doing at the University to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to make change happen.

COP27 IEMA Policy Briefing

IEMA put together a short overview (in both English and Arabic) of what to expect at COP27 in Egypt, looking at the key topics on the agenda and the background context to some of the stickiest issues.

Download the English version here.

Download the Arabic version here.

COP26 – good COP, bad COP or COP out?

As the COP26 talks taking place in Glasgow have now finally concluded, IEMA’s Head of Policy, Ben Goodwin, discusses the outcomes and next steps. READ HERE.

Want to know more about COP26 and what it all means? Read our COP 101 here.

IEMA on COP26

Catch up on IEMA COP26 Webinars

In the build-up to COP26, we hosted weekly webinars on critical COP themes: climate change, climate security and risk, sustainable finance and the role of nature, featuring special guest speakers. Catch up on any you missed below:

COP Events articles

COP28 roundup of announcements

This year’s COP28 climate summit concluded with an “historic” agreement between countries to “transition away from fossil fuels”, although the final Global Stocktake text has been described as containing “a litany of loopholes”.

14th December 2023

Read more

IEMA’s CEO and deputy CEO, Sarah Mukherjee MBE and Martin Baxter, respectively, called for greater support for green skills at several events today on Youth, Children, Education and Skills Day at COP28.

8th December 2023

Read more

With the first week of COP28 drawing to a close, IEMA’s deputy CEO, Martin Baxter, reflects on some of the key announcements made so far, addresses the controversy surrounding the climate summit, and highlights what to look out for in the second week.

7th December 2023

Read more

Negotiations are well underway at COP28 in the UAE as countries look to agree the best ways to tackle climate change and environmental breakdown over the coming decades.

5th December 2023

Read more

Thousands of people have gathered in the UAE for this year’s COP28 climate summit, including IEMA CEO Sarah Mukherjee MBE, and deputy CEO, Martin Baxter.

1st December 2023

Read more

In the August/September edition of Transform, I wrote about a green skills campaign that IEMA has been running in the lead into COP28.

24th November 2023

Read more

More than 40 organisations and businesses have backed IEMA’s campaign to get green skills and training on the agenda at COP28, including Nestle UK, the British Chambers of Commerce, and OVO Energy.

9th November 2023

Read more

In the build-up to COP28, which this year takes place in the United Arab Emirates, IEMA is campaigning for greater recognition of the role of skills in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change process.

1st August 2023

Read more

Media enquires

Looking for an expert to speak at an event or comment on an item in the news?

Find an expert