The world is on track for a disastrous 2.8C global warming, after what the UN called a “wasted year” because countries largely failed to deliver ambitious emissions pledges at the Cop26 climate talks.
Nearly 200 governments promised in Glasgow to revisit and strengthen their emissions plans this year to keep alive the world’s goal of holding warming to 1.5C. The temperature is considered a “guardrail”, beyond which floods, droughts and extreme weather will escalate in frequency and intensity.
However, a UN environment programme report today finds that the world remains on course for 2.8C without new policies, and 2.4C at best if countries deliver on their latest plans. “In other words, we are headed for a global catastrophe,” the UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, said.
Despite
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