Why the Paris climate deal is stalling
Global temperatures have breached the Paris agreement's 1.5C target, and negotiations are deadlocked over how to enforce deeper cuts.
Ten years after the Paris agreement, climate negotiations are at an impasse. Global temperatures have exceeded 1.5C above pre-industrial levels for two years running, and the UN now estimates warming will reach about 1.7 to 1.8C.
At last year's climate summit in Belém, Brazil took concrete national emissions plans off the negotiation table, leaving little for countries to discuss. The consensus rule allows any country to block progress, giving fossil-fuel interests effective veto power.
The US withdrew from Paris under President Trump. Even developed nations supporting climate action have mostly failed to back up pledges: Australia plans no end to fossil fuel exports, the UK is opening new gasfields, Germany scrapped renewable heating laws.
The structures of climate talks have grown labyrinthine and slow. Meanwhile, warming accelerates: it now rises at 0.4C per decade, double the rate when Paris began.
- 1.5C above preindustrial levels
- Paris target
- 1.7 to 1.8C
- Estimated warming
- 0.4C per decade
- Current warming rate
- Belém, Brazil
- Summit location
Why it mattersClimate decisions made or blocked in the next few years will shape whether global warming stays dangerous or becomes catastrophic for coming generations.
AustraliaAustralia is co-hosting this year's Cop31 climate summit in Turkey but has not committed to ending fossil fuel exports, putting it at odds with countries pushing for concrete action.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 2 h ago
