Countries’ climate policies fall vastly short of meeting global warming goals, report finds

Countries’ climate plans are getting marginally closer to meeting the Paris Agreement warming goals, but actual policies to achieve those plans are falling vastly short.

A report this week from the research group Climate Action Tracker found that the growth of renewable energy over the past several years has been effectively canceled out, emissions-wise, by the parallel growth of fossil fuels.

As a result, global emissions in 2030 are on track to be nearly twice as high as they would need to be to stay within 1.5°C of warming, with the gap widening over time.

The study underscores that the non-binding nature of the Paris Agreement leaves a huge loophole for countries to underdeliver on their promises — and even those go nowhere near far enough.