The climate threat|The climate meeting COP28

Draft includes third option: Change nothing  

 

The UN has presented a new draft of a climate agreement at the COP28 summit in Dubai, reports AFP and Reuters. There, two alternatives are presented which concern the phasing out or reduced use of oil, gas and coal. 

 

But also a new, third option has been added which suggests that "no text" in the agreement should apply to fossil fuels. That position is supported by, among others, Saudi Arabia and China.  

 

At the climate summit, which is taking place in the hottest year on record, nearly 200 countries must reach a consensus decision. An agreement is expected on December 12.  

 

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Report: Glaciers shrank by one meter a year 

 

The world's glaciers shrank more than ever before measured between 2011 and 2020 – by about one meter per year. This is according to a new report from the UN Meteorological Organization WMO.  

 

According to the report, the Antarctic ice sheet shrank 75 percent more than in the previous decade, AP writes. This in turn has effects on sea level rise.  

 

- Every decade since the 1990s has been warmer than the last and we see no immediate signs that the trend is reversing, says WMO director Petteri Taalas to the news agency.  

 

- We are losing the fight to save our melting glaciers and ice sheets.  

 

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The world is expected to emit a record amount of carbon dioxide this year  

 

The global emissions of carbon dioxide are expected to be record high in 2023, according to the annual report Global Carbon Budget presented during the UN Climate Summit in Dubai.  

 

This year, the world is expected to release 36.8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels – an increase of 1.1 percent compared to last year, which was also a record year according to the researchers.  

- It now seems inevitable that we will miss the 1.5 degree target from the Paris Agreement, says researcher Pierre Friedlingstein, who led the work on the report, to Reuters.  

 

This year's increase is noted above all in China and India, as well as from global air traffic.

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