UN Climate Change Conference: Towards a global climate deal

The United Nations Climate Change Conference is underway in Doha, Qatar. More than 190 nations are represented, including representatives from Britain and Malaysia. The latest analysis by the UN Environment Programme shows that current pledges to 2020, even interpreted in the most favourable way possible, would only get us halfway towards a 2°C trajectory. That leaves a lot of work to do to avoid a path leading inexorably towards the level of climate change that is rightly described as “catastrophic”.

Intense rainfall, more extreme weather and wetter winters will significantly increase Britain’s existing vulnerability to flooding. In Malaysia, flooding threatens not only to affect people’s homes, but also to hit the operation of businesses and even critical infrastructure systems.