We’ll hear a lot about money at this climate summit. Poor countries want more of it - but what’s it for?

Climate finance is split into three areas:

• Mitigation: This is money to help developing nations move away from fossil fuels and other polluting activities. Many countries still have coal power stations that are yet to reach the end of their lives. They need support to build clean energy infrastructure, such as solar farms, to replace them.
• Adaptation: This is money that goes towards helping developing nations prepare for the worst effects of climate change. It covers things like building stronger flood defences, relocating populations at risk and distributing crops that are more resilient to dry spells.
• Loss and damage: This is not agreed and remains highly controversial. The money would go towards helping developing countries recover from the impacts of climate change they are already suffering. Developing nations want guaranteed compensation from developed countries - who they say are historically responsible for climate change. However, developed countries consider this a red line - and say that to agree would be admitting liability for the disasters.

Read more: Will richer nations hand over the cash?

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Justin Rowlatt
Climate Editor, reporting from Sharm el-Sheikh

Image source, Getty Images

The Egyptian hosts of COP27 have set themselves a tough challenge.

Last year's UN climate conference in Glasgow delivered a host of pledges on emissions cuts, finance, net zero, forest protection and more. Egypt says their conference will be about implementing these pledges.

What that really means is it will be all about cash, and specifically getting wealthy nations to come good on their promises of finance to help the developing world tackle climate change.

Pakistan, which suffered terrible floods earlier this year, is demanding the developed world also agrees on a funding mechanism to compensate for the loss and damage climate change is already causing in developing countries.

"I don't think it is an impossible ask," the Pakistani climate minister, Sherry Rehman, told the BBC this week.

Egypt has warned of a "crisis of trust" if progress on loss and damage isn't made, Mr Guterres has described it as the "litmus test" of the conference.

But expect strong pushback from developed countries.

Europe and the US have agreed there should be a formal discussion of the issue but are unlikely to make commitments of cash.

They worry the costs will spiral into trillions of dollars as the impacts of climate change get more severe in years to come.

Read more here.

Here are some of the big names expected to attend:

• UK PM Rishi Sunak said last week that he would be going to the summit, after previously saying he wouldn’t, in order to prepare for a major statement on UK finances on 17 November
• Joe Biden: The US president is expected to attend on Friday, days after US voters head to the polls for midterm elections
• John Kerry: Biden's special envoy on climate, who has long been at the forefront of climate discussions, will be a key presence for the US
• Among G20 countries, France's Emmanuel Macron, Spain's Pedro Sanchez, Germany's Olaf Scholz, Italy's Giorgia Meloni and Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan have confirmed their attendance. Ursula von der Leyen will represent the EU
• Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who won elections last week to become Brazil’s next president, is expected to attend

The Notable absentees

It’s expected that we won’t see Russian President Vladimir Putin, China’s President Xi Jinping, Australia’s PM Anthony Albanese or Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the summit.

The UK’s new monarch, King Charles III, will not attend, despite being a long-standing environmental campaigner.

And youth activist leader Greta Thunberg will also not be present.

The climate is the average weather in a place over many years. And so climate change is a shift in those average conditions.

The rapid climate change we are seeing now is caused by humans using oil, gas and coal in their homes, factories and transport.

When these fossil fuels burn, they release greenhouse gases – mostly carbon dioxide (CO2). These gases trap the Sun’s heat and cause the planet’s temperature to rise.

Image source, .

The world is now about 1.1C warmer than it was in the 19th Century – and the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has risen by 50%.

This might not sound a lot but it is making heatwaves hotter and storms more intense, it is contributing to droughts and melting polar ice which is causing sea levels to rise.

In order to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, scientists say temperature rises must slow down. They warn global warming needs to be kept to 1.5C by 2100.

Read our simple guide on climate change here.

Chris Mason
Political editor

Image source, PA Media

The prime minister managed to occupy every conceivable position on attending this summit. No, maybe, and finally yes.

He arrived late last night; his indecision the latest symptom of the turbulence in government in recent months. Rishi Sunak will hope that turning up can be the start of rebuilding the country's image.

It is also his first opportunity to build the vital personal relationships needed to get stuff done on the international stage; on climate and much else.

Mr Sunak has told The Sun he will "get a grip" on those crossing the Channel in small boats. "Prime Ministers can only spend their personal time on a handful of really key priorities, this for me is absolutely one of those," he said.

He'll discuss the issue with President Macron later. Inevitably, domestic questions never escape a prime minister on tour.

On his way here, he said abusive text messages sent by one of his ministers, Sir Gavin Williamson, to a colleague, were "unacceptable," he welcomed that he had expressed regret - and he refused to say whether Sir Gavin would be safe in his job once an investigation into his conduct was completed.

Justin Rowlatt
Climate Editor, reporting from Sharm el-Sheikh

Image source, Getty Images

The global effort to cut emissions is"woefully inadequate" and means the world is on track for"catastrophe", the UN warned last week.

But the meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh is shaping up to be a prickly and confrontational affair.

The Egyptian hosts have set themselves a tough challenge. Last year's UN climate conference in Glasgow delivered a host of pledges on emissions cuts, finance, net zero, forest protection and more.

Egypt says their conference will be about implementing these pledges.

What that really means is it will be all about cash, and specifically getting wealthy nations to come good on their promises of finance to help the developing world tackle climate change.

So expect the main battle lines to be between the north and south, between rich and poor nations.

Read more: Why the latest UN climate conference matters

Image source, Getty Images

It has been a year since the world's governments committed to new, more ambitious climate pledges at the UN summit in Glasgow.Here’s what they agreed:

• to "phase down" the use of coal - one of the most polluting fossil fuels
• to stop deforestation by 2030
• to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030
• to submit new climate action plans to the UN
• to phase out inefficient oil and gas subsidies

But since then the world has seen the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a global energy crisis, and political upheaval in some countries. As governments meet again in Egypt, to reflect on progress, have they kept their climate promises?

You can read more here.

Georgina Rannard and Esme Stallard
Climate reporters

Image source, Getty Images

Climate experts have told the BBC that progress in 2022 has been slow - with governments around the world distracted by global energy and financial crises.

But there are also rays of hope.

We looked at developments in several key countries and the EU:

• The US made a huge leap forward this year when it passed sweeping new laws to confront climate change. Measures within the Inflation Reduction Act could reduce US greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030. But US-China cooperation on climate is on hold because of tensions over Taiwan
• The European Union, historically progressive on tackling climate change, has slipped backwards as Russia's invasion of Ukraine led to pressure on energy supply and moves to continue using coal. But longer term there’s a new plan to increase renewable energy from 40% to 45% by 2030

• Brazil holds one of the keys to fighting climate change - its massive Amazon rainforest soaks up huge amounts of carbon. Deforestation surged under outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro, but he’s just been ousted by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. He says Brazil is“ready to retake its leadership” in the climate fight
• Australia’s new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, elected in May, has accelerated climate plans, promising to reduce emissions by 43% by 2030 - a big leap forward from the country’s previous target of 26%

You can read more about progress in these countries, as well as China, India and the UK here.

Justin Rowlatt
Climate Editor, reporting from Sharm el-Sheikh

Image source, PA Media

Today is the big ceremonial day of the conference.

It is when the world leaders turn up and we get the UN climate conference “family photograph”. It will be busy, with some 120 leaders squeezing into the frame.

The majority are from developing nations. The president of Kenya, for instance, will be speaking on behalf of the Africa Group. With severe drought in the east of the continent pushing millions closer to famine and disastrous flooding, most recently in Niger, we are expecting an highly critical and emotional speech – asking developed nations to move faster on climate finance.

The leaders of France, Germany, the UK and the European Union will all be here, but the absentees are very significant too.

No Chinese, Russian or Indian leaders will be at the talks, and the US president will be stopping by on Friday not today.

In a line: The COP27 summit from 6 - 18 November brings world leaders together to discuss tackling climate change.

Why it matters: Fossil fuel emissions caused by humans are causing global warming and we’re already seeing extreme weather events linked to climate change. Urgent action is needed to avoid catastrophic consequences for the planet and the people living on it.

Why is it called COP27? UN climate summits are held every year, for governments to agree steps to limit global temperature rises. COP stands for"Conference of the Parties". The parties are the attending countries that signed up to the original UN climate agreement in 1992. This is the 27th COP - last year Glasgow hosted COP26.

What to look out for: A key part of the process is individual countries setting targets on how they will cut emissions. Increased targets were set in Glasgow, but even if met, those still aren’t enough to limit warming to the target of 1.5C, which scientists say is crucial for avoiding the worst impacts. Egypt, the host, wants to focus on how commitments are implemented. Poor countries that are already struggling with the impacts of climate change want more money.

Read more here.

Image source, Reuters

Good morning. World leaders have converged on the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt for this year's UN climate summit, COP27.

On the agenda, again, is the future of the planet and its inhabitants. Climate change is already worsening heatwaves, floods and droughts around the world, while the emissions of the gases causing the planet to heat up just keep on rising.

Today we'll hear from presidents and prime ministers as the next twelve days of negotiations get under way. Stay with us for live updates.