Parochialism, politics and the planet

Abstract

Following the COP26 international climate negotiations of late 2021, countries settle to the task of meeting their new commitments to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. They do so with varying degrees of political commitment and sense of urgency, and the commitments vary widely in ambition and intent. Most countries’ commitments fall very far short of those needed to limit global warming to 1.5 or even two degrees centigrade (UNEP 2021). After COP21 our editors argued that the Paris agreement: