COP27: What is it and what do you need to know?

For the first time ever there will be an official space at the UN climate change conference for young people.

The Children and Youth Pavilion at COP27 will mean they can hold and take part in discussions and negotiations.

There will also be a special Youth and Future Generations Day on 10 November which will include two round-table discussions between young people and negotiators.

Dr Omnia El Omrani has been made the Youth Envoy. She said her priority is to break down the barriers between "youth and policy makers".

Where is COP27?

Pictures have been released of youth groups cleaning up the river Nile ahead of the conference

COP27 will take place in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt from 6 to 18 November.

The annual UN climate summits are meant to help governments agree steps to limit global temperature rises.

The UK hosted last year's summit, COP26, in Glasgow in November 2021.

COP27 will be the first UN climate conference held in Africa since COP22 was held in Morocco in 2016, so there are hope that it will bring more focus to the continent.

Following COP26 which was held in Glasgow, many people including Greta Thunberg criticised the lack of action.

At a mass rally in the city in November 2021 Greta called the event a "failure" suggesting world leaders were talking too much.

Who is going to be at COP27?

King Charles won't be attending COP27, but Rishi Sunak has reversed his decision and is now going

Around 90 heads of state have so far confirmed their attendance at COP27, a senior Egyptian official has said.

But there has been some disappointment over who will be going to represent the UK.

A few weeks ago Buckingham Palace confirmed that King Charles would not be attending and it was announced that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also said he won't be going.

Opposition parties and environmental groups criticised the decision suggesting the government was not taking the climate crisis seriously enough.

Rishi Sunak arriving in Egypt for COP27

However, Downing Street confirmed Mr Sunak will be attending the climate summit, with the prime minister arriving in Egypt on Sunday.

Activist Greta Thunberg, however, will not be attending COP27. She has said she doesn't agree with how the summit is being run and described it as a forum for "greenwashing".

What are the aims of COP27?

COP27 will be Vanessa Nakate's third climate talk at a UN climate conference

Global temperatures have risen 1.1C and are heading towards 1.5C, according to the UN's climate scientists, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

If temperatures rise 1.7 to 1.8C above 1850s levels, the IPCC says that half the word's population could be exposed to life-threatening heat and humidity.

When 194 countries signed the Paris Agreement in 2015 they pledged to "pursue efforts" to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C

Secretary General António Guterres speaking in New York ahead of the COP27 said it needed to be a priority.

"We need to tell the truth. The truth is that the impact of climate change on a number of countries in the world, especially hotspots, is already devastating," he said.

What are the challenges for COP27?

Young people have already started to protest, asking world leaders to make some big decisions at COP27

The BBC's climate expert, Justin Rowlatt, says some leaders might find it difficult to agree with each other on many issue.

As energy and gas prices rise across the world, there will be different opinions on how to use funding to look after the planet.

Other countries have spent billions in offering military support to Ukraine, so might be hesitant when it comes to spending more money.

Justin Rowlatt says by 2020 countries had agreed to have 100 billion dollars a year ready to help developing countries with the cost of climate change - but in 2022 this target still has not been hit.

Vanessa Nakarte a climate justice activist from Uganda who will be speaking at COP27 said: "Those who didn't cause the climate crisis those who aren't responsible for the global emissions, they're the ones on the frontlines.

"They're the ones whose voices are not being listened to."

What other controversies are there around COP27 in Egypt?

Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, President of Egypt has been criticised for his regimes human rights abuses

Human rights organisations have expressed concern over Egypt's record.

Human Rights Watch has called the situation in Egypt a "human rights crisis" because of the abuses of people's basic rights in the country.

Many of these include environmental activists and the work of environmental groups have been restricted, and there are concerns that protests by activists during the conference will also be prevented.

Also the event has been criticised over allowing the drinks company Coca-Cola to be the official sponsors for COP27.