evious implementation record of global climate politics is weak – global emissions as well as impacts of climate change and related loss and damage are increasing – and the political conflicts on the rulebook still need to be solved. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), we can only reach the temperature goals of the Paris Agreement if global emissions start to decline well before 2030. Current commitments by countries are rather likely to lead us to a 3-degree-world. The next months are therefore crucial to deliver on what has been pledged back in 2015.
If UN climate policy still wants to influence climate reality in a positive way, it needs to increase speed. Robust global rules for the implementation of the Paris Agreement are a key prerequisite to accelerate this process. Countries themselves urgently have to deliver on more ambitious national climate policies. After all, also the UN is just the sum of its parts.