“We cannot afford to have a bad COP” – Mary Robinson

Mary Robinson: This year will go down in history as the one when global
temperature records were not merely surpassed but shattered. There is also
a risk that 2023 becomes the year that multilateral co-operation on climate
fractures, if leaders do not respond at the scale and with the urgency the
science demands.

As COP28 starts in Dubai against a backdrop of divisive
geopolitics, governments need to demonstrate that working together on our
shared challenges is not only necessary but possible. The need for
collective action is urgent, and the cost of inaction catastrophic. Yet
leaders have not done enough. We are well off-track in curbing global
warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, the limit set out in the Paris
Agreement.

The latest UN assessment shows current climate policies would
mean a predicted 9 per cent rise in global emissions from 2010 to 2030,
despite scientific consensus demanding a 45 per cent reduction in the same
timeframe. Meanwhile, despite projections of global clean energy
investments reaching $1.7tn in 2023, oil and gas industry profits soared to
an estimated $4tn last year while fossil fuel subsidies hit a record $7tn.

FT 26th Nov 2023

https://www.ft.com/content/824664ec-4b20-48cc-8fc2-44ab4c31b75d