Orange-spine unicornfish (Naso lituratus), also known as barcheek unicornfish or naso tang, swim by a coral reef off the dive spot of Abu Dabbab along Egypt’s southern Red Sea coast north of Marsa Alam on September 17, 2022. – Beneath the waters off Egypt’s Red Sea coast a kaleidoscopic ecosystem teems with life, that could become the world’s “last coral refuge” as global heating eradicates reefs elsewhere, researchers say (AFP)
If there is one word that best describes the state of the world’s pledges to contain global warming, it is this: Insufficient. This grim reality was reported in the Emissions Gap Report 2022 released on Wednesday. This United Nations study found that the world is still short of the Paris Agreement climate goals (2015), with no credible pathway to a 1.5°C temperature increase cap in place. Only an urgent system-wide transformation in high carbon-emitting sectors such as electricity supply, industry, transport, buildings and financial systems can avoid an accelerating climate disaster. And this looks unlikely