Halfway through what was once called the “decisive decade,” global climate action is faltering. Political will is fading, the finance gap keeps widening, and the chance of keeping average global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius is quickly diminishing.
There are areas of significant progress and an indication that the renewable economy is moving forward with or without the United States, but a report published Wednesday by the World Resources Institute found backsliding on global climate action and electric vehicle uptake; no movement on phasing out coal, halting deforestation, and reducing agriculture emissions; and an increase in public finance for fossil fuels. Overall, the report found that out of 45 indicators used to measure climate action, not a single one is on track.
Tens of thousands of diplomats, negotiators, NGOs, and journalists are set to meet in Brazil for the 30th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP30, next month. They will do so in an entirely different world than when the very first COP was held. This world has experienced climate change-caused extreme heat and drought, wildfires that have ravaged communities everywhere from the tropics to the poles, marine heat waves, intensified hurricanes, and the lowest-ever sea ice cover in both the Arctic and Antarctic.
About the author
Jesse Chase-Lubitz
Jesse Chase-Lubitz covers climate change and multilateral development banks for Devex. She previously worked at Nature Magazine, where she received a Pulitzer grant for an investigation into land reclamation. She has written for outlets such as Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, and The Japan Times, among others. Jesse holds a master’s degree in Environmental Policy and Regulation from the London School of Economics.
