“Keeping 1.5 alive” has been an unofficial motto of this year’s climate talks. It appears to be an item on the checklist that will remain unfulfilled. That doesn’t mean there hasn’t been some progress. Let’s do a quick recap of what has been achieved as the climate summit heads into its second and final week.
The parade of announcements this week from world leaders, finance figures and climate diplomats at the COP26 summit culminated in a weekend parade of protesters through Glasgow, Scotland. The message from the thousands carrying placards around the venue of the meeting is one most insiders would agree with: The progress is still not enough to avoid catastrophe.
It’s the stark reality of the climate fight. As governments, businesses and money managers increase their ambitions to cut emissions, even taken at face value and assuming maximum follow-through, the pledges being made at COP26 don’t add up to temperatures that remain below the increase of 1.5°C enshrined in the Paris Agreement.
