Parties debate how to incorporate 1.5℃ goal in COP30 text

Parties have started debating as to how the latest science on climate change can be framed in the COP30 decision.

- Jayashree Nandi

It is now virtually impossible to prevent an overshoot of the Paris Agreement's lower limit of 1.5℃, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) had informed world leaders gathered at the Belem Leaders' Summit (COP30) last week.

This year is set to be either the second or third warmest year on record, according to the State of the Global Climate Update of WMO. But how the fact that the world did not manage to keep warming under 1.5℃, the lower limit of the Paris Agreement, can be captured in the text is being debated, say observers. The debate is also reflecting the positions and aspirations of various blocs of countries.