COP

Methane is a huge source of air pollution, forming ground-level ozone and causing 1 million premature deaths every year. It’s also a big driver of the climate crisis, contributing to a quarter of the planet’s warming and 25 times more damaging to the environment per molecule than carbon dioxide, research has shown.  

COP27 begins next week and this year’s host is Egypt, an authoritarian country accused of human rights abuses. Journalist Georgie Hughes considers whether productive talks can take place when the host country has a history of persecuting critics and activists.