JOHANNESBURG – According to the United Nations (UN), 2023 is on track to become the hottest year on record as world leaders meet in Dubai to take stock of the global climate crisis.
Politicians, business magnets, and climate activists are meeting at the two-week COP28 summit, which kicked off on Thursday.
Speeding up plans to rein in global warming and clinching an early deal on the climate damage fund are among the issues on the table at the annual event.
READ: Five things to watch for at COP28 climate talks
The UN warned that extreme weather patterns across the globe have seen several climate records shattered, including record-high global temperatures, greenhouse gas emissions, and higher-than-usual sea level rises.
Closer to home, experts have described the devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, and Eastern Cape as domestic indicators of the impact of climate change in South Africa.
The UN’s Climate Change executive secretary, Simon Stiell, said it can’t be business as usual in the face of disaster.
“They’re looking at us to take responsibility for speeding things up.”
Stiell said the stakes are high as world leaders take stock of the implementation of the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
So far, the summit has agreed to roll out the climate damage fund to countries hardest hit by climate change.