Letters | Leaders at Cop30 must act with conscience to prevent climate hell
Readers discuss our slow progress towards limiting global warming, China’s priorities in scientific research, and diversity in the Legislative Council
This iconic summit is supposed to build consensus among nations for tackling the escalating climate risks by limiting global temperature rise by the end of the century to within 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels. Yet global temperatures and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have continued to rise despite the goals set by each of the signatories to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impact of climate change.
In 2015, the global surface temperature was 1 deg C above the pre-industrial level, while the average atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was 399.4 parts per million (ppm). However, by 2024, the global surface temperature was 1.55 deg C above the pre-industrial level, and it was the warmest year on record. The atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration reached 425.48 ppm in August this year.
The national pledges on lowering emissions so far are proving inadequate to pull humanity away from climate hell.
Moreover, the US – the world’s richest country, according to UBS – has again withdrawn from the Paris Agreement. It has in the past embraced the moral obligation of a big country by providing aid and disaster relief for others, but all that has changed under the Trump administration – just as the impact of climate change intensifies.