World leaders convene in Antalya, Turkey, on Monday for the United Nations’ 31st Conference of the Parties, or COP31, after another year of deadly climate disasters. Forest fires in Canada, Indonesia, and Brazil impacted millions of people. Heat waves contributed to more than 50,000 deaths in Europe. Floods prompted by the collapse of a melting glacier killed more than 1,500 people in Nepal and caused nearly $5 billion in damages.
And things may only get worse. This will be the first COP since the U.N.’s sobering report on the inevitability of breaching 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of global warming. That temperature target was a focal point for climate ambition even before the landmark 2015 Paris Agreement, with scientists warning that exceeding that benchmark could push the planet past dangerous tipping points, triggering climatic changes that may be impossible to reverse.
Despite the urgent need for action, few expect COP31, co-hosted by Turkey and Australia, to produce another breakthroug... Read more
