This summit aimed to hammer out the final implementation details of the landmark 2015 Paris climate accord, and expectations were high of a collective political call for raising climate targets. Everywhere they turned there were young, highly-committed climate activists, who know their climate science, to remind them of what was urgently needed and demanding higher ambition, namely net-zero emissions by 2050. Global emissions of CO2 grew by 20 per cent between 2015 and 2019. Bottom line: “the point of no return is no longer over the horizon” – the words of António Guterres opening COP25. Ambition, or lack of it:The gap between emissions reductions and climate actions is of grave concern because it’s widening, not closing.

Source: The Irish Times December 15, 2019 16:26 UTC