Climate change: what will the next decade bring?
Climate change is a dire threat to countless people. The longer humanity takes to curb emissions, the greater the dangers. Nearly 200 governments signed the landmark Paris agreement of 2015 that promised to limit global warming to between 1.5 and 2C above pre-industrial levels. But current efforts to reduce carbon emissions are not sufficient to prevent catastrophic warming. Ahead of this Novembers COP26 UN climate summit, countries are required to put forward new, more ambitious pledges to cut emissions. On Earth Day, April 22nd, Economist journalists Alok Jha, Charlotte Howard and Guy Scriven spoke with subscribers about climate change and what the next decade will bring. You can watch their conversation in full below. In 2020, when covid-19 brought the world to a virtual halt, carbon emissions fell by more than in any year since the second world war; yet a similar drop will be needed every other year for a decade to achieve the goals of the landmark Paris agreement. The biggest actor to watch in 2021 will be America, newly returned to the fold under President Joe Biden. To stay up to speed with our latest climate coverage, visit our climate hub or register to receive The Climate Issue, our fortnightly newsletter. Visit this page to view the schedule for our upcoming events. Subscribers can also watch recordings of all our previous sessions on the same page.