Scientists called for ‘unprecedented’ action. But the global climate talks aren’t built for that

KATOWICE, Poland — Negotiators from nearly 200 nations drew close to a deal Friday that would nudge the world toward stronger targets for reducing carbon emissions and enshrine a clearer set of rules for how to get there.

A group of Polish youths staged a protest in the U.N.
climate conference venue in Katowice on the last
scheduled day of talks to urge negotiators from
almost 200 countries to reach an agreement on ways
of keeping global warming in check.

But even amid the glimmers of progress at this year’s climate summit, where more than 25,000 people have gathered in the heart of Poland’s coal mining region, there was a deeper undercurrent of dismay. The world’s best efforts, some participants concluded after two weeks of nonstop talks, would not nearly match the urgency of a problem that scientists have said will bring catastrophic consequences without major action over the next 12 years.

“Climate change is not something in our future. It’s happening to us now,” said Mohamed Nasheed, former president of the Maldives and chief of the island nation’s negotiating team here. “We will not survive if business goes as usual.”

Read the story from The Washington Post by Griff Witte and Brady Dennis - “Scientists called for ‘unprecedented’ action. But the global climate talks aren’t built for that.”

Climate change: Global deal reached to limit powerful greenhouse gases

Nations agreed to limit the use of HFCs,
 used in air conditioners and refrigerators.

Nearly 200 nations have reached a deal to limit the use of greenhouse gases far more powerful than carbon dioxide in a major effort to fight climate change.

The talks on hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, were called the first test of global will since the historic Paris Agreement to cut carbon emissions was reached last year.

HFCs are described as the world's fastest-growing climate pollutant and are used in air conditioners and refrigerators.

The agreement caps and reduces the use of HFCs in a gradual process beginning by 2019, with action by developed countries including the United States, the world's second-worst polluter.

Read the ABC story - “Climate change: Global deal reached to limit powerful greenhouse gases.”