They lacked the drama, excitement and eventual breakthrough that marked the Paris agreement of 2015, but this year’s UN climate talks produced important steps forward in putting the landmark accord into practice. While the conference broadly succeeded within its narrow technical remit, however, key questions on tackling climate change were ignored or put off. “Right now, we are facing a manmade disaster of global scale, our greatest threat in thousands of years: climate change,” the veteran broadcaster and naturalist told delegates. Brazil previously acted as a powerbroker between developed and developing nations, and without that role future talks may be more acrimonious. It seems that Trump’s hostility to climate science is emboldening other countries to take a more aggressive role in fighting progress.

Source: The Guardian December 16, 2018 11:58 UTC