PARIS: One year after world leaders issued the landmark call for a global move away from fossil fuels, nations are failing to turn that promise into action, say climate diplomats, campaigners and policy experts.
Countries are being urged not to lose sight of that historic agreement ahead of November’s COP29 climate negotiations, where fossil fuels are not top priority.
Despite last year’s climate deal calling for the first time on countries to “transition away from fossil fuels”, major economies are still planning oil and gas expansions in the decades ahead.
Renewable technology like solar and wind is being rolled-out at breakneck speed but not fast enough to stop burning more oil, coal and gas, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in October.
Global emissions — caused mainly by fossil fuels — are at record highs, pushing concentrations of planet-warming greenhouse gases to unprecedented levels, two UN agencies reported.
Since inking the watershed COP28 pact in Dubai “leaders have been grappling with how to turn those commitments into reality”, said Katrine Petersen from E3G, a policy think tank.
“There has been a bit of a vacuum of political leadership on some of this… and a potentially worrying trend that this landmark energy package has been slipping off leaders’ political agendas.”
Countries threatened by climate disaster were “waiting in vain to see the sharp decline in fossil fuel production that was heralded”, said Pa’olelei Luteru, a Samoan diplomat.
“Alas, saying something is one thing and actually meaning it is quite another,” said Luteru, who chairs the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).
‘Weakening support’
Papua New Guinea, an impoverished Pacific nation vulnerable to climate shocks, says it is “sick of the rhetoric” and is boycotting this year’s UN-led talks in Azerbaijan altogether.
AOSIS lead coordinator Toiata Uili said they were concerned about “weakening political support” for tough fossil fuel commitments, but would not let bigger countries off the hook.
Azerbaijan’s lead negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev has acknowledged that many countries want “clear next steps” at COP29 to show progress on the Dubai pledges.
Behind the scenes, this has faced strong pushback from oil-rich nations, said one western diplomat.
Some of these countries felt they were led into over-committing at Dubai and were very reluctant to agree anything more on fossil fuels, the diplomat added.
Azerbaijan is accused of being reluctant to prioritise fossil fuels during the climate talks to protect its own oil and gas interests.
The COP29 host denies this, but says its focus during the November 11-22 conference is finalising a contentious deal to boost climate finance.
“Yes, this is the finance COP… but it is also essential that the progress that leaders made last year on the energy front isn’t lost,” said Petersen.
‘Empty words’
Despite political obstacles, there are signs the transition is beginning.
In October, the IEA said clean technology was attracting twice the investment of fossil fuels and by 2030, half the world’s electricity would come from low-carbon sources.
“But with higher energy use even fast renewables growth doesn’t translate to fast falls in CO2 emissions,” said Dave Jones from think tank Ember.
In October, G20 leaders — whose economies account for three-quarters of global emissions — reaffirmed they would shift away from fossil fuels.
But the gap between what countries say and what they do is significant, said Anne Olhoff, co-author of a damning UN scorecard published in October.
In the past year, just one country — Madagascar — had announced tougher climate policies, it said.
“If we look at action and ambition, nothing much has happened at the global level since last year’s report,” Olhoff said.
Countries face pressure to articulate what concrete steps they are taking to wean off fossil fuels in their next national climate plans, due early 2025.
Many are promising bold policies that align with agreed warming limits, but are approving new oil and gas fields — an impossible contradiction, says the UN’s expert climate panel.
The “worst culprits” were rich Western nations, said Oil Change International and other activist groups in October. But the United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan and Brazil — the COP28, COP29 and COP30 hosts, respectively — were also ramping up fossil fuel production, they said.
Meanwhile, global temperatures continue to rise, unleashing devastating impacts on people and ecosystems.
“When we talk about climate pledges we are talking about more than just arbitrary, empty words,” said Andreas Sieber from activist group 350.org.

Greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere reached new record highs in 2023, the UN warned on Monday, with countries falling “miles short” of what is needed to curb devastating global warming.
Levels of the three main greenhouse gases — heat-trapping carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide — all increased yet again last year, said the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nation’s weather and climate agency.
Carbon dioxide was accumulating in the atmosphere faster than ever, up more than 10 percent in two decades, it added.
And a separate report by UN climate change found that barely a dent is being made in the 43 percent emissions cut needed by 2030 to avert the worst of global warming.
Action as it stands would only lead to a 2.6 percent reduction this decade from 2019 levels.
“The report’s findings are stark but not surprising — current national climate plans fall miles short of what’s needed to stop global heating from crippling every economy, and wrecking billions of lives and livelihoods across every country,” said UN climate chief Simon Stiell.
The two reports come just weeks before the United Nations COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan, and as nations prepare to submit updated national climate plans in early 2025.
“Bolder” plans to slash the pollution that drives warming will now have to be drawn up, Stiell said, calling for the end of “the era of inadequacy”.
– ‘Alarm bells’ –
Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries agreed to cap global warming at “well below” two degrees Celsius above average levels measured between 1850 and 1900 — and 1.5C if possible.
But so far their actions have failed to meet that challenge.
Existing national commitments would see 51.5 billion tonnes of CO2 and its equivalent in other greenhouse gases emitted in 2030 — levels that would “guarantee a human and economic trainwreck for every country, without exception,” Stiell said.
As long as emissions continue, greenhouse gases will keep accumulating in the atmosphere, raising global temperatures, WMO said.
Last year, global temperatures on land and sea were the highest in records dating as far back as 1850, it added.
WMO chief Celeste Saulo said the world was “clearly off track” to meet the Paris Agreement goal, adding that record greenhouse gas concentrations “should set alarm bells ringing among decision-makers”.
“CO2 is accumulating in the atmosphere faster than at any time during human existence,” the report said, adding that the current atmospheric CO2 level was 51 percent above that of the pre-industrial era.
– Sea levels 65 feet higher –
The last time the Earth experienced a comparable concentration of CO2 was three to five million years ago, when the temperature was two to three Centigrade warmer and the sea level was 10 to 20 metres (65 feet) higher than now, it said.
Given how long CO2 lasts in the atmosphere, current temperature levels will continue for decades, even if emissions rapidly shrink to net zero.
In 2023, CO2 concentrations were at 420 parts per million (ppm), methane at 1,934 parts per billion, and nitrous oxide at 336 parts per billion.
CO2 accounts for about 64 percent of the warming effect on the climate.
Its annual increase of 2.3 ppm marked the 12th consecutive year with an increase greater than two ppm — a streak caused by “historically large fossil fuel CO2 emissions in the 2010s and 2020s”, the report said.
Just under half of CO2 emissions remain in the atmosphere, while the rest are absorbed by the ocean and land ecosystems.
Climate change itself could soon “cause ecosystems to become larger sources of greenhouse gases”, WMO deputy chief Ko Barret warned.
“Wildfires could release more carbon emissions into the atmosphere, whilst the warmer ocean might absorb less CO2. Consequently, more CO2 could stay in the atmosphere to accelerate global warming.
“These climate feedbacks are critical concerns to human society.”

Humanity is ‘paying a terrible price’ for inaction on global warming, with time running out to correct the course and avoid climate disaster, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Thursday.
A new report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) says the next decade is critical in the fight against climate change or any hope of limiting global warming to 1.5C will be lost.
The current pace of climate action would result in a catastrophic 3.1 degrees Celsius of warming this century, UNEP said in its latest Emissions Gap report.
And even if all existing pledges to cut emissions were enacted as promised, global temperatures would soar 2.6C above pre-industrial levels — a still devastating scenario for humanity.
“Either leaders bridge the emissions gap, or we plunge headlong into climate disaster, with the poorest and most vulnerable suffering the most,” said Guterres.
“Around the world, people are paying a terrible price.”
The call to action follows a streak of destructive and deadly extreme weather and comes in a year expected to be the hottest in recorded history.
The world’s poorest have been particularly hard hit, with typhoons and heatwaves in Asia and the Caribbean, floods in Africa, and droughts and wildfires in Latin America.
Nations meeting at the COP29 climate summit next month in Azerbaijan hope to agree on increasing finance for the developing world to cope with climate change.
– ‘Out of time’ –
UNEP’s latest projections blow well past 1.5C, which nations agreed in Paris in 2015 was the safest bet to minimise the worst consequences of a warming planet.
That goal was “still technically possible”, UNEP said — but only with enormous reductions by 2035 in heat-trapping gases caused primarily by burning fossil fuels.
Rather than declining, emissions are still rising, hitting a new record high last year.
Guterres said the world was “playing with fire”.
“But there can be no more playing for time. We’re out of time,” he said.
Keeping 1.5C on track would require a collective effort “only ever seen ever seen following a global conflict”, UNEP said.
Without pulling together “on a scale and pace never seen before… the 1.5C goal will soon be dead,” said UNEP executive director Inger Andersen.
To have a hope of meeting 1.5C, emissions must be slashed 42 percent by 2030 and 57 percent by 2035, UNEP said.
The existing suite of climate commitments — including those contingent on outside financial help — would only cut expected 2030 emissions by 10 percent if implemented as promised.
“These reports are an historical litany of negligence from the world’s leaders to tackle the climate crisis with the urgency it demands, but it’s not too late to take corrective action,” said Tracy Carty from Greenpeace International.
– ‘Bridge the gap’ –
UNEP said advances in solar and wind, two proven and cost-effective technologies, could deliver a steep fall in emissions but investment in such carbon-cutting solutions needed to rise six-fold to meet 1.5C.
Guterres said wealthy nations of the G20 must lead the way.
“Either leaders bridge the emissions gap, or we plunge headlong into climate disaster,” he said.
The world’s 20 largest economies were responsible for nearly 80 percent of global emissions in 2023. The bottom 47 countries accounted for three percent.
The United States was historically the biggest polluter, accounting for 20 percent of global emissions since 1850, when the burning of fossil fuels for energy began in earnest.
The European Union and China accounted for 12 percent each, UNEP said.
A breach of 1.5C is increasingly being seen as inevitable by scientists and policymakers.
But a recent study found that even temporarily exceeding 1.5C before bringing warming back down — a scenario known as an ‘overshoot’ — could cause irreversible consequences for the planet.

The UN COP29 conference, which is scheduled to be held, from 11 November to 22 November in Baku, might pressurize rich countries to increase their contribution to ‘climate finance’ for poor countries by hundreds of billions of dollars.
Climate finance is likely to be the top agenda at the conference amid disagreements on how much is needed, who should pay and what should be covered in it.
Climate finance
Though there is no universally agreed upon definition of climate finance, as per the Paris agreement, it refers to the money spent in a manner “consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.” It includes government or private money to promote clean energy like solar and wind, technology like electric vehicles, or adaptation measures like dykes to hold back rising seas.
At the UN negotiations, climate finance is discussed to resolve the difficulties faced by the developing world and use the money to prepare for global warming.
At present, most climate finance assistance is transacted through development banks or funds that are co-managed with the countries involved, like the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility.
Which nations pay
Under a 1992 UN accord, a handful of rich countries that are most responsible for global warming are obligated to provide finance. In 2009, the United States, the European Union, Japan, Britain, Canada, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, New Zealand and Australia agreed to pay $100 billion per year by 2020, however, this was achieved for the first time in 2022. The delay in paying eroded the trust of developing countries and fuelled accusations that rich countries were shirking their responsibility.
Nearly 200 nations are expected to agree on a new finance goal beyond 2025 at COP29.
India has proposed a call for $1 trillion annually, with some other proposals suggesting even higher amounts.
However, the responsible countries request other major economies to contribute as well, arguing that there is a huge difference between 1990 and 2024 economies as big industrialized nations in the 90’s represent only 30 percent of historic greenhouse gas emissions today.
China is particularly pushed for being the world’s largest polluter, along with the gulf countries. But this proposal has not yet arrived at a conclusion.
Negotiations
UN commissioned experts estimate that apart from China, other developing countries would require $2.4 trillion per year by 2030.
The distinction between climate finance, foreign aid and private capital is often unclear and campaigners are pushing for transparency to specify where the funds come from, and in what form.
Grants instead of loans
According to AFP, coallations of activists, environment and scientific organizations wrote to governments in October asking rich nations to pay $1 trillion a year into three clear categories.
Around $300 billion would be government money for reducing planet-heating emissions, $300 billion for adaptation measures and $400 billion for disaster relief known as “loss and damage”.
Developed countries, however, are opposed to including funds for “loss and damage” in any new climate finance agreement reached at COP29.
Campaigners are also critical of the $100 billion pledge because two-thirds of the money was given as loans and not grants. The signatories believe that all the funds should be given as grants, instead of loans, as loans could worsen debt problems for poorer countries.
Alternatives
France, Kenya and Barbados support the idea of new global taxes, for example on aviation or maritime transport, with the backing of UN chief Antonio Guterres.
Redirecting fossil fuel subsidies to support clean energy or canceling the debt of poorer countries in return for climate investments are also potential solutions.

Global warming. Disappearing plant and animal species. Fertile land turning to desert. Plastic in the oceans, on land, and the air we breathe.
These urgent environmental challenges will be in the spotlight over the next few months as the United Nations hosts four major sessions to address key threats to the planet.
– Biodiversity –
First up is a “Conference of the Parties” — a COP — dedicated to biodiversity being held in Cali, Colombia, from October 21 to November 1.
These are called every two years to debate how the world can cooperate to better protect the rich variety of plant and animal life in the natural world.
The COP16 isn’t expected to break new ground but will take stock of progress since the last summit secured historic assurances for biodiversity.
In 2022 in Montreal, nations agreed to place 30 percent of the planet under environmental protection by 2030 in a landmark pact aimed at arresting biodiversity loss and restoring ecosystems to health.
In Cali, countries will put forward national strategies to meet this global objective, and observers hope Colombia as host will provide a model for others to follow.
– Climate –
The world’s most important conference on climate change is this year being hosted by Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic heavily dependent on oil and gas exports, from November 11 to 22.
While the last summit in Dubai in 2023 delivered a historic commitment to transition the world away from fossil fuels, supporting poorer countries with climate change will top this year’s agenda.
The summit, known as COP29, is expected to land a new agreement on “climate finance“: money from rich nations most responsible for global warming to developing countries vulnerable to climate change.
There isn’t an agreed figure yet, or even consensus on where the money should come from, who should receive it, and what form it could take.
But developing countries are pushing for much more than the $100 billion pledged in 2009. This was only reached for the first time in full in 2022.
The result of the US election, just six days before COP29 begins, could throw a last-minute curveball into the final negotiations, which have proved divisive so far.
It also remains to be seen how many world leaders travel to Baku, the capital on the Caspian Sea, with some expected to focus their energy on COP30 in Brazil next year.
– Desertification –
The least high profile of the three COPs, this session in Saudi Arabia addressing the loss of fertile land to desert is nonetheless critical.
Climate variation like droughts and human activities like overgrazing can result in desertification, a process mainly in dry areas where land degrades and becomes unproductive.
Experts hope the COP16 on desertification, scheduled to take place in Riyadh from December 2 to 13, can act as a turning point in addressing this problem.
“Discussions will focus on ways to restore 1.5 billion hectares of land by 2030, as well as putting in place agreements to manage the droughts that are already affecting many regions of the globe,” said Arona Diedhiou from the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development.
– Plastic –
In 2022, some 175 nations agreed to fast-track negotiations toward a world-first treaty on plastic pollution, and the final session gets underway on November 25 in South Korea.
The treaty aims to marshal an international response to the plastic trash choking the environment, from oceans and rivers to mountains and sea ice.
Some nations want the treaty to restrict how much plastic can be made while others — particularly oil and gas producing countries that provide the raw materials to make plastic — want a focus on recycling.
Hellen Kahaso Dena, head of Greenpeace’s Pan-African Plastics Project, hopes that countries “will agree on a treaty that prioritises reducing plastic production”.
“There is no time to waste with approaches that will not solve the problem,” the activist told AFP.