Climate Action tracker shows world is not on target to limit global warming to 1.5C

Climate experts meeting at the COP30 summit in Brazil have been discussing the findings of the Climate Action tracker. They show that the world is not on target to meet its goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The panel also discussed the "devastating” impact of the United States’ withdrawal from the 2015 Paris Agreement. They said the US exit slowed global momentum toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

"As our current policy update shows, the temperature outcomes been pretty flat for four years," said Bill Hare of Climate Analytics, "reflecting a lack of action by countries pushing us towards 2.6 degrees of warming, which will literally cook the planet.”

The planet's annual temperature has risen by about 0.46 degrees Celsius since 2015, one of the biggest 10-year temperature hikes on record, according to data from the European climate service Copernicus. This year will be either the second or third hottest on record.

"Even though our temperature estimates have not changed, there has been quite a lot of change underneath," said Niklas Höhne of the NewClimate Institute. "Some positive trends, some negative trends. And from on the higher level, the negative trends are that greenhouse gas emissions still are rising. So last year has been higher than the year before. And estimates are that this year will also be higher than the year before. So recent emissions are going up."

Renewable energy

But it's not all bad news, the experts said. Renewable energy is expanding rapidly and will help offset rising emissions as their use expands rapidly.

Renewable energy is also now cheaper in most places than polluting coal, oil and natural gas.

Last year, 74 percent of the growth in electricity generated worldwide was from wind, solar and other green choices, according to two United Nations reports in July. In 2015, half-a-million electric vehicles were sold globally, and last year it was 17 million, the report said.