How the Utter Failure to Cut Global Emissions is Unraveling Our World
We are now living on borrowed time.
In 2015, world leaders convened in Paris with a commitment that promised a future where global warming would be contained, aiming to keep temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The Paris Agreement, hailed as a beacon of hope in climate diplomacy, has since proved hollow.
Today, emissions continue to climb, setting us on a trajectory that defies all promises made in those agreements. The consequence? A world hurtling towards a global temperature rise of 2.7°C by the end of the century, according to some of the most reliable scientific estimates available today .
For regular people like you and me, the failure of governments to meaningfully reduce emissions isn’t an abstract concept. It’s a direct, impending threat to every aspect of life — from the food we eat to the energy we consume, to the livability of our cities and towns.
Below, we dissect the widening chasm between the pledges made and the inaction that followed, and why the consequences of this failure are far more immediate and severe than most realize.
