Cop28: As climate crisis spirals, what on earth are world leaders waiting for?

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. With King Charles set to use his opening address today to call for a “critical turning point towards genuine transformational action”: UN secretary general Antonio Guterres warned unprecedented global heat “should send shivers down the spines of world leaders” Hosts UAE insisted no issue would be left off the table during talks Latest projections showed there was just a 14 per cent chance of limiting warming to the 1.5C target A landmark deal was finalised to support vulnerable nations already suffering irrevocable loss from the climate crisis Rishi Sunak said he was “proud” of his record on tackling climate change – despite fierce criticism from UK campaigners over his net zero U-turns US climate envoy John Kerry said Washington would target reductions of the potent but lesser-mentioned greenhouse gas, methane The King is expected to tell leaders and climate delegates that the “hope of the world” rests on their decisions, and argue that, despite some progress, repeated warning signs of climate change are being ignored. It is understood he will outline five key questions he hopes the summit will address, adding: “The Earth does not belong to us, we belong to the Earth.” The summit began yesterday with the WMO’s announcement that 2023 will be the hottest year in recorded history, while sea level rise is also at a record high, extreme weather is spiralling, and Antarctic sea ice is disappearing at alarming rates. “We are living through climate collapse in real time,” said Mr Guterres, calling for the spiralling crisis to be a “trigger” for world leaders to act. “Science tells us we have around six years before we exhaust the planet’s ability to cope with our emissions,” Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said yesterday.