Opinion and reporting by Mathew Carr

Dec. 1, 2023 — Is it just me, or is it more than a little annoying to other people as well … that ignorant politicians and so-called leaders think they can keep 1.5C alive?

UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak is 'totally committed' to net zero and to keeping 1.5°C alive.https://t.co/LZYyolVEIN pic.twitter.com/ofmH3u99xm

— New Scientist (@newscientist) December 1, 2023

There’s an increasingly good chance (or is it a bad chance?) that global temperatures will hit more than 1.5C above pre-industrial times in 2023.

It’s been predicted at the beginning of last month that 1.5C is at risk by the Copernicus service that provides monthly climate data.

See this snip:

Note the top of the range at 1.46C. Rounding to the nearest 1 decimal, that’s 1.5C.

Since then, temperatures have stayed well outside the top of the range of recent experience.

See this from ClimateReanalyzer, with November highlighted:

The data is showing that mother nature is about to call out all leaders pretending to protect the climate, while failing to do so as they offer false hope.

I don’t accept that announcing a bad “loss and damage fund” plan at the beginning of COP28 is a victory, UAE (which is leading the talks) and USA.

#COP28 is off to a good start.

On Day One, we established a fund for climate impact response that will serve the needs of the most vulnerable countries, as they address the escalating effects of this crisis.https://t.co/HdjSaKIfiF

— Special Presidential Envoy John Kerry (@ClimateEnvoy) November 30, 2023

All leaders need to get more real. Market rules need to be changed to spur big emissions cuts. No ifs, no buts. It needs to happen this month. Not next year. Not 2025. This year.

Three Ways the Loss and Damage Fund Plan Fails Climate Justice (2)

Global Temperature in October Was 1.7C Higher Than Pre-Industrialized Times (1)