“This is a great help for tackling climate change but it is not enough. “If climate negotiators in Marrakech can build momentum for further cuts in emissions, we could be making a serious start to addressing climate change,” Le Quéré said. Despite the tailing off of emissions growth in polluting industries, atmospheric concentrations of CO2 hit a record high in 2015 and are on track to continue doing so every year until emissions hit near zero. That is what scientists regard as the limit of safety, beyond which climate change is likely to become catastrophic and irreversible. But the European Union’s emissions rose 1.4% in 2015, against a backdrop of long term declines in pollution, while another major emitter, India, saw emissions rise 5.2%.

Source: The Guardian November 14, 2016 06:00 UTC