The first COP was held back in 1995 in Berlin and just like any COP conference, the aim was to solve immediate climate crisis but also implement strategies that would prevent future climate catastrophes from occurring.

This year's COP summit comes after a summer of droughts and heatwaves that hit Europe, after Pakistan was flooded and after hurricane Ian hit the southern US full-force.

What are COP summits

COP summits or Conference of the Parties represent annual meetings that gather together all countries that signed the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change back in 1992.

The purpose of the document was to preserve greenhouse gas concentrations "at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human-induced) interference with the climate system."

The most recent summit, COP26, took place last year in Glasgow, and it brought together 120 leaders from around the world.

They signed the Glasgow Climate Pact with the purpose to maintain the efforts of limiting the rate of global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The goals of COP27

This year's COP climate summit has a few goals set which the officials will aim to address.

Mitigation is the first objective and all parties present at the conference are encouraged to take "bold and immediate action" to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit the rate of global warming.

Adaptation is the second big topic this year, as it becomes more and more necessary in the ever-changing world that we live in today. Measures will be needed in this direction in order to help vulnerable communities stay strong in the face of extreme climate events.

Finance is another important part of the summit and the leading economies will be urged to deliver the promised 100 billion USD per year to developing countries in order to help them in becoming more environmentally responsible.

Also talking about the biggest economies, they will also be encouraged to pay compensation to developing countries for loss and damage caused by climate change generated by the big players.

Denmark was one of the countries that did this a few weeks ago, by donating 13.4 million euros to these nations.

Last, but not least, the participants are expected to collaborate in the mission to make planet Earth a safer place to live, as this is the only way we can succeed in our mission to protect ourselves and the ecosystems.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said that "we trust the world will come together, yet again, to reaffirm its commitment to the global climate agenda despite the difficulties and uncertainties of our time."

Also at this year's COP, officials will try and find a way for all countries to measure their emissions in a practical and standardized way.

Other key areas of discussion

Of course, this is not all there will be discussed at this year's COP27 climate summit.

Nature is also expected to be a big topic, with reforestation and ecosystems protection being just two potential topics.

Forests are one of our best ways to fight carbon emissions, as they can act as sponges that give oxygen to us, while absorbing the damaging emissions and also keep the temperatures in check.

The food system will likely be revisited, as the events that happened this year showed the whole planet that it is dangerous to count on a handful of countries for supplies of base foods.

Water as a resource will most certainly make its way on the list of topics, as especially in Europe, but not only it caused many issues this summer, with droughts meaning certain crops were destroyed.

Even the energy and navigation systems suffered greatly from lower-than-usual water levels.

Of course, industry decarbonization is also a potential big topic, as many companies and even institutions are looking at how to reduce their environmental footprint, but also how to capture the emissions that are in the atmosphere right now.

Just recently we wrote about the fact that the EU is financing green tech projects in this field with 3 billion euros.

Renewable energy to be pushed

Renewable power is also set to be pushed hard this year, not just for the climate benefits, but also for the fact that it ensures energy security, which is very important given the events taking place in the east of Europe, which have disrupted the power system on the continent.

In fact, Europe as a whole could become energy independent by 2030 thanks to the effort of multiple countries investing in solar panels and wind power, among other power resources.

Portugal, Denmark and the Netherlands are just some of the states that promise to make green, renewable power available not just for themselves, but for neighboring countries, as well.

This year's COP27 is said to be packed, as "there are over 30,000 people registered to attend representing governments, businesses, NGOs, and civil society groups."

Also, this year's event will also consist of a Green Zone, which will have a special protest area and a big outdoor lounge and terrace space.

More news on the COP27 summit as the event unfolds can be followed at UN's dedicated page for the summit here.