This year, the need for climate action was more apparent than ever. Partly, this was evident in extreme weather events around the globe, from Pakistan’s monsoon flooding to Europe’s heat waves. But it is also a simple fact: As the world barrels toward 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming—the threshold set in the Paris Agreement—only rapid and unprecedented measures by governments can forestall catastrophic climate hazards. It’s a target that’s not yet dead but on “life support,” said Frans Timmermans, the European Union’s climate chief.
Yet many of the international climate discussions in 2022 felt eerily similar to those of years past. Like its predecessor, the recent United Nations climate change conference (known as COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, left many people disappointed. At last year’s COP26, countries failed to outline a clear plan to limit warming, and at the last minute, the final pact’s language around phasing out coal was weakened. This year, COP27 negotiators in Egypt could not commit to phasing down all fossil fuels, thanks in part to oil-producing countries’ efforts, and did not form a plan to further curtail emissions.
That is not to say progress has not been made. Notably, at COP27, deliberations finally brought an agreement to establish a “loss and damage” fund, where wealthier countries would compensate vulnerable countries for the rising costs of climate impacts. Although key details still need to be worked out and little money has been pledged thus far, the fund has been hailed as a victory for developing countries that have fought for it for decades.
