Climate and the Culture of Fear

Climate and the Culture of Fear

International and Arab News

The report issued a few days ago by the international scientific body advising the United Nations on climate change brought nothing new, except for confirming what has been known for years: that the climate is changing faster than expected, and the impact will be multiplied should there be no prompt practical plan. However, credible solutions are still remote, because countries did not abide by what they promised in conferences and climate treaties over the past three decades.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which includes scientists from all over the world, has issued since its inception in 1988 a series of scientific reports that have been the basis for climate agreements since COP summits began 27 years ago. The last report was a summary of the committee's work over five years, and its conclusions and recommendations are supposed to form the scientific foundation for the political options to be considered at COP28 in the UAE at the end of the year.

The most prominent conclusion of the report is that limiting the rise in temperature to 1.5 degrees by the end of this century is no longer an achievable goal, due to the delay in implementing the required