Coal has grown strongly this year despite climate efforts, the IEA says (Andrew Matthews/PA)
(Picture: PA Archive)The mission is clear: keep 1.5C alive. That is, for global temperature rises to stay within 1.5C of pre-industrial averages.
To get there will require a monumental effort from all nations, high-income and low, big and small. Thus far, the omens are not universally good.
It has been reported that President Xi Jinping will not attend COP26 in Glasgow. This will leave China as an outlier, but more importantly, it will make an ambitious, binding agreement harder to reach.
Jinping has committed to stop funding foreign coal power stations and to a net-zero target by 2060. This is a welcome start but these commitments must be tightened if we are to combat catastrophic climate change.
Chinese engagement is also essential for raising the financing necessary to support countries around the world transition to a low-carbon economy.
Relations between China and the West, in particular with the United States, have deteriorated in recent years. That makes any global agreement more difficult.
But it is no exaggeration to suggest the future of the world, or at least one habitable for future generations, is at stake. It is therefore not Pollyannaish to hope countries look past present tensions in order to focus on saving the planet.
