All is not lost, Simon Stiell, the UN’s climate chief, told the Guardian last week. But the latest planetary health check from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research is a brutal reminder of how close the Earth is being pushed beyond repair. Seven of the nine planetary boundaries are now breached, with ocean acidification added to the danger list. Yet the world has proved that cooperation works: the ozone layer is healing, air pollution controls are working. A decisive test looms at the end of the month, when governments must file new climate pledges, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs). This is no time to ease off: the fossil-fuel era must end, and the clean‑energy transition must accelerate.
There is real concern that big emitters, including Australia and the EU, will fall short of what is needed to avoid extreme heating. The EU is set to miss this month’s NDC deadline, while most fossil-fuel producers plan to cut emissions at the margins instead of phasing out production. Since Donald Trump has withdrawn from the Paris climate agreement, the US will make no fresh commitments at all. At the UN, Mr Trump trotted out the same stale oil-industry talking points he’s been peddling for years.
