It took place under the presidency of Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry, with more than 92 heads of state and an estimated 35,000 representatives, or delegates, of 190 countries attending.

[8][9][10][11] On 8 January 2022, the Minister of Environment of Egypt, Yasmine Fouad, met with COP26 President Alok Sharma to discuss preparations for the conference.

[18] One week ahead of the summit, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), released a report outlining how there was "no credible pathway" to limiting global temperature increase to 1.5 °C and that mitigation efforts since COP26 had been "woefully inadequate".

Wealthy countries were expected to focus on ways to help developing nations phase out fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy.

[32] As a COVID-19 recovery strategy, the Egyptian government increased hotel prices in Sharm El Sheikh, leading to concerns over the affordability and inclusivity of the conference.

[33] Egypt's foreign, environment and social solidarity ministries privately selected and screened local NGOs that would be permitted to apply for one-time registration for the climate summit.

This is the first COP without observer states as all participating countries, including Vatican City, have ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

[36] Right after winning the 2022 general election, president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil confirmed he would attend the summit.

[40] Among the heads of state and government not attending were Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his premier Li Keqiang, as well as Russia's Vladimir Putin and his prime minister Mikhail Mishustin.

[45] Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese, outgoing Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, and Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg did not attend COP27.

[47] Event spaces on the opening day of the conference were told they may need to be cancelled, unless they involve visiting heads of state, following tightening of security.

[48] On 8 November, the High-Level Expert Group on the Net Zero Emissions Commitments of Non-State Entities of the United Nations formed the previous March by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and chaired by former Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna released a report that stated that the carbon neutrality pledges of many corporations, local governments, regional governments, and financial institutions around the world often amount to nothing more than greenwashing and provided 10 recommendations to ensure greater credibility and accountability for carbon neutrality pledges such as requiring non-state actors to publicly disclose and report verifiable information (e.g. greenhouse gas inventories and carbon footprint accounting in prospectus for financial securities) that substantiates compliance with such pledges.

[52][53] In his opening remarks, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi called for countries to act on climate change, drawing attention to the impact of extreme weather events in recent years.

The US International Development Finance Corporation tried to increase investment to help low-income countries deal with different impacts of climate change.

Germany and Denmark pledged more than €170 million for the "Global Shield", a new fund that will help to lower income countries cope with climate disasters.

[62] On 11 November, celebrities, politicians, and businesses delivered a letter to COP27 President Sameh Shoukry calling for COP27 to adopt a global Plant Based Treaty.

[64] On 12 November, Nitin Mehta the founder of Indian Cultural Centre of London wrote in The Sunday Guardian that if COP27 delegates do not decree that humans "abandon meat, fish, eggs and dairy" then COP27 will be a failure.

[65] As she waited in line at COP27 for a vegan burger, Sarah Garry of the British Society of Soil Science told CNBC that the vendor was the only place selling vegetarian food at the event plagued by logistics issues.

[67] American columnist Avery Yale Kamila wrote that COP27 "leaders ignored the Plant Based Treaty", adding that "After all these years, Egypt's "flesh pots" documented in the Old Testament remain entrenched.

[4][75][76] Issues raised by critics included the authoritarian political system, mass imprisonment and curbs on civil society and dissent since 2013, under the leadership of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

[77] Imprisoned Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah criticized COP27 taking place in Egypt, and stated that "Of all the countries to host they chose the one banning protest and sending everyone to prison, which shows how the world is handling this issue.

"[78] Naomi Klein, Bill McKibben and British Green Party MP Caroline Lucas are among the signatories who have signed a letter detailing their concerns about holding COP27 in Egypt.

[79] On 15 July 2022, a White House adviser, Jerome Foster II, and a British climate justice activist, Elijah Mckenzie-Jackson, wrote a letter to the UNFCCC condemning the choice of Egypt as host of the COP27.

[4][76] On 12 September 2022, Human Rights Watch published a report based on interviews with more than a dozen activists, academics, scientists, and journalists working on environmental issues in Egypt.

[82] In October 2022, the environment director at Human Rights Watch, Richard Pearshouse, stated that Egypt has threatened to derail meaningful global climate action by silencing the country's independent environmentalists before COP27.

[83] When the official smartphone app for COP27 was released in late October, various human rights and security experts, such as Hossam Bahgat, discovered that it asks for various and unreasonable permissions for access to user data, such as emails and location tracking, which could be used by the Egyptian government for surveillance of attendants.

[89] Meanwhile, the Emirates also hired US-based PR firms and lobbying agencies, including Akin Gump and FleishmanHillard, which assisted the UAE in laundering its international reputation and promoting itself as the host of COP28.

[90] The British-Egyptian writer and activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, who has been imprisoned for most of the previous nine years for his activism and criticism of Egypt's government, had been on hunger strike since late October, and his case has become a central topic at COP27, especially after he reportedly stopped drinking water at the beginning of the summit.

[91] International pressure mounted on Egypt to release him: several world leaders, including British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, raised his case directly with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and Volker Türk, United Nations human rights chief, also urged Egypt to release him and other political prisoners.

[92] At a news conference held by Sanaa Seif, sister of Abd El-Fattah, Egyptian parliament member Amr Darwish confronted the speaker from the audience and was escorted out of the room by United Nations security officers.