Climate Leaders Face Tough Reality at COP30: Can the 1.5°C Goal Be Saved?
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New Delhi: Climate change has become an inescapable reality, with the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) warning that it's now virtually impossible to prevent an overshoot of the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C limit. This year is set to be either the second or third warmest on record, according to the WMO's State of the Global Climate Update. The debate at the COP30 summit has shifted from whether to incorporate the 1.5°C goal in the text to how to frame the failure to meet this target. The European Union has welcomed the WMO's update, while the Arab Group and India are pushing for scientific integrity, rejecting language that they deem alarmist and misleading. The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and Independent Association of Latin America and the Caribbean (AILAC) are urging countries to recall the importance of keeping 1.5°C within reach through the Global Stocktake (GST) outcomes. However, the rich countries are focusing on Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and the gap to achieve this goal. "Developing countries are concerned that the text should reflect the full Paris Agreement goal, which aims to limit global warming to well below 2°C and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C," said a developing country negotiator. "Moreover, it's unclear when the overshoot will happen, and the impacts of climate change are more immediate and important for us.
