In Paris, all governments solemnly promised to come to COP26 with more ambitious 2030 commitments to close the massive 2030 emissions gap that was already evident in 2015.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in their recent report issued a code red that there is more than a 50% chance that we will reach 1.5°C warming within the next two decades if emissions continue at their current rates.

We know that climate change is real and urgent. The planet can barely afford any more carbon dioxide emissions. But we need to continue to emit for our survival and development as these emissions are linked to economic growth. What then do we do? What is the carbon budget available to us?

The 10 recommendations in the COP26 Special Report on Climate Change and Health propose a set of priority actions from the global health community to governments and policy makers, calling on them to act with urgency on the current climate and health crises.

Much of the implementation guidelines of the Paris Agreement have been finalised. However, negotiators at COP26 still need to resolve a few outstanding issues, including devising the implementation guidelines for Article 6.

A paper on the perspective of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) calls for stronger emissions cuts and financial compensation for the impacts they are expected to suffer from climate change. The paper was released in July 2021 ahead of the Glasgow Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP 26).

India is not only on track to meet its Nationally Determined Commitment (to reduce the emission intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030) but may even exceed the commitment and achieve a reduction of 39–40 per cent if the current rate of annual decline is extrapolated by a moderate 1 per cent.