More than one world leader says humanity's future, even survival, hangs in the balance when international officials meet in Scotland to try to accelerate efforts to curb climate change. Temperatures, tempers and hyperbole have all ratcheted up ahead of the United Nations summit.
And the risk of failure looms large for all participants at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference, known as COP26.
Six years ago, nearly 200 countries agreed to individualized plans to fight global warming in the historic 2015 Paris climate agreement. Now leaders will converge in Glasgow for two weeks starting Sunday to take the next step dictated by that pact: Do more and do it faster.
It's not easy. Except for a slight drop because of the pandemic, carbon pollution from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas is increasing, not falling.
Between now and 2030, the world will spew up to 28 billion metric tons (31 billion U.S. tons) of greenhouse gases beyond the amount that would keep the planet at or below the most stringent limit set in Paris, the United Nations calculated this week.
"Everything is at stake if the leaders do not take climate action," young Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate said. "We cannot eat coal. We cannot drink oil, and we cannot breathe so-called natural gas."
Her words were echoed by a man tasked with steering one of the world's richest economic blocs through the climate transition.
"We are fighting for the survival of humanity," European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans said. "Climate change and the threatening ecocide are the biggest threats humanity faces."
Climate change is fueling heat waves, flooding, drought and nastier tropical cyclones. Extreme weather also costs the globe about US$320 billion a year in economic losses, according to risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide. And people die.
"The unhealthy choices that are killing our planet are killing our people as well," said Dr. Maria Neira, director of public health and environment at the World Health Organization.
Humanity and the Earth won't quite go off a cliff because of global warming, scientists say. But what happens in Glasgow will either steer the world away from the most catastrophic scenarios or send it careening down a dirt road with tight curves and peril at every turn. It's a situation where degrees, even tenths of a degree, translate into added risk.
"We are still on track for climate catastrophe," United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday, even after some countries' recent emission pledges.
For months, United Nations officials have touted three concrete goals for these negotiations to succeed:
-- Countries must promise to reduce carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 compared with 2010.
-- Rich countries should contribute $100 billion a year in aid to poor countries.
-- Half of that amount must be aimed at adapting to climate change's worst effects.
World leaders have recently softened those targets a bit, and they say the goals may not quite be finished by mid-November, when negotiations end. U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry told The Associated Press: "There will be a gap" on emission targets.
Under the Paris pact, nations must revisit their previous pledges to curb carbon pollution every five years and then announce plans to cut even more and do it faster. Delayed a year by the pandemic, this year's meeting is the first to include the required ratcheting up of ambitions.
The hope is that world leaders will cajole each other into doing more, while ensuring that poorer nations struggling to tackle climate change get the financial support they need.
The headline goal set in Paris was to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) since preindustrial times. The world has already warmed 1.1 degrees Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) since then.
Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said this month that the 1.5-degree mark "is the threshold for our survival, humanity, our planet Earth."
But every analysis of current climate-change pledges shows that they are not nearly enough to stop warming at that point but will instead lead to at least another degree or a degree and a half Celsius of warming (about 2 to 3 degrees Fahrenheit).
All five emissions scenarios studied in a massive UN scientific assessment in August suggest that the world will cross that 1.5-degree-Celsius threshold in the 2030s, though several researchers told the AP that it is still technically possible to stay within that limit or at least temporarily go over it and come back down.
Small island nations and other poor, vulnerable communities said in 2015 that 2 degrees would wipe them out, and insisted on the 1.5-degree threshold.
"Our way of life is at stake," said Tina Stege, the climate envoy for the Marshall Islands. "Our ability to provide our children with a safe and secure future is at stake. Atoll nations like the Marshall Islands do not have higher ground to retreat to."
In Glasgow, divisions between nations are big, and trust is a problem, say several United Nations officials and outside analysts.
Rich countries like the United States and European nations developed carbon-belching energy and caused most of the problem historically, but now they ask poor nations to cut or eliminate the use of fossil fuels. In return, they've promised $100 billion a year by 2020 to help developing countries switch to clean energy.
So far, the funding has fallen far short of that amount.
"Failure to fulfill this pledge is a major source of the erosion of trust between developed and developing nations," Guterres said.
The key to success may lie in the middle, with major emerging economies.
Three days before the meeting starts, China, the world's largest carbon emitter, submitted a new national target that is only marginally stronger than what was previously proposed.
China is so important that if every other nation cuts back in line with the 45% global emission reduction and China doesn't, the world's total will drop only by 30%, according to Claire Fyson, a top analyst at Climate Action Tracker, a group of scientists that monitor and analyze emission pledges.
In the end, every country, will be asked to do more in Glasgow, said United Nations Environment Programme Director Inger Andersen. But much of the effort, she said, comes back to China and the U.S.
"We need these two powers to put aside whatever else and to show true climate leadership because this is what it will take," Andersen told the AP.
But realistically, she added, leaders in Glasgow, will take anything "in terms of real, meaningful commitments that are backed by action -- action that starts in 2022."
------
Borenstein reported from Washington, Jordans from Berlin. Associated Press Writer Ellen Knickmeyer contributed from Washington.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
After reaching peak intensity with wind speeds of 180 m.p.h. (285 km/h) on Monday night, Milton became the strongest storm on our planet for 2024.
Hurricane Milton is expected to leave a path of devastation across central Florida, from Tampa in the west to Daytona Beach in the east.
A seasoned American meteorologist became emotional on air as he gave an update on a major hurricane, later suggesting the reason behind his strong reaction.
The minority Liberal government is not considering proroguing Parliament, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Tuesday, despite persisting uncertainty over who is willing to keep propping them up and procedural wrangling over a Conservative led-privilege debate.
The Ontario Ministry of Health says four people have been sickened after consuming beef tongue believed to be contaminated with listeria.
Former cabinet minister Marc Garneau, who describes himself in his new book as always-a-Liberal, 'but a decidedly blue one,' says he hopes the party still has room for someone like him.
The renewed pleas of people in Fort Chipewyan, Alta. for government to take action cleaning up contamination in their community have reached the ears of federal Transport Minister Anita Anand.
Emotions boiled over after a judge acquitted two out of three defendants in a manslaughter case, while the third accused has since died.
On September 11, Madeleine Gervais was the victim of a theft in Ottawa's west end. It happened in the Loblaws parking lot in College Square, when she was approached by a man and a woman who insisted to help her load her groceries into her car.
On September 11, Madeleine Gervais was the victim of a theft in Ottawa's west end. It happened in the Loblaws parking lot in College Square, when she was approached by a man and a woman who insisted to help her load her groceries into her car.
Political leaders are condemning what they describe as "hateful rhetoric" from a speaker at a pro-Palestinian rally in Vancouver who told the crowd that 'we are Hezbollah and we are Hamas.'
A British Columbia provincial court judge says a Boston Bar man who shot a teacup Chihuahua named Bear claiming it was menacing his chickens was not justified in killing the animal.
More than two weeks have passed since Hassan Ali walked out of a Toronto courtroom a free man, after prosecutors decided not to move forward with a first-degree murder trial against the local rapper.
Elections BC is reissuing new 'where to vote' cards to some residents after an administrative error mistakenly recommended voting places that were farther from homes than necessary.
The province’s consumer watchdog is investigating a Saskatoon company selling luxury vacation condos in Mexico.
The Dominican Republic said Tuesday it has deported or repatriated nearly 11,000 Haitians in the past week, fulfilling a pledge to do so weekly as neighboring Haiti scrambles to handle the influx while besieged by gang violence and poverty.
Florida gas stations struggled to keep up with demand Tuesday as long lines and empty pumps compounded the stress for residents planning to hunker down or flee as Hurricane Milton approached the state's western coast.
The FBI has arrested an Afghan man who officials say was inspired by the Islamic State and was plotting an Election Day attack targeting large crowds in the U.S., the Justice Department said Tuesday.
Donald Trump has had as many as seven private phone calls with Vladimir Putin since leaving office and secretly sent the Russian president COVID-19 test machines during the height of the pandemic, Bob Woodward reported in his new book, 'War.'
A former New York City official was charged Tuesday with witness tampering and destroying evidence in a federal investigation that led to Mayor Eric Adams’ bribery indictment. The arrest came amid yet more high-profile departures from Adams' administration as federal prosecutors delve deeper into allegations that the mayor was involved in a coverup.
A seasoned American meteorologist became emotional on air as he gave an update on a major hurricane, later suggesting the reason behind his strong reaction.
The minority Liberal government is not considering proroguing Parliament, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Tuesday, despite persisting uncertainty over who is willing to keep propping them up and procedural wrangling over a Conservative led-privilege debate.
Former cabinet minister Marc Garneau, who describes himself in his new book as always-a-Liberal, 'but a decidedly blue one,' says he hopes the party still has room for someone like him.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is not allowed to speak in the House of Commons today as his public feud with Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly spilled into a second day.
The Ontario Ministry of Health says four people have been sickened after consuming beef tongue believed to be contaminated with listeria.
One in eight women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in their lifetimes, according to the American Cancer Society. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death for women in the United States, with 42,000 women dying every year from this cancer.
A new report that looks at the sex lives of Canadian youth suggests more needs to be done to encourage safe sex, including reversing a decrease in condom use.
The Brazilian Supreme Court's Justice Alexandre de Moraes on Tuesday authorized the restoration of social media platform X´s service in Brazil, over a month after its nationwide shutdown, according to a statement posted on the court's website.
A British-Canadian researcher has won the Nobel Prize in physics for work developing the foundations of machine learning and artificial intelligence. The University of Toronto's Geoffrey Hinton was awarded the prize Tuesday morning, along with Princeton University researcher John Hopfield.
A device used by researchers with Fisheries and Oceans Canada appears to have been the victim of an attack by a great white shark 300 metres under water off the coast of Nova Scotia.
An elevator mechanic mistakenly threw out a piece of artwork, made to look like empty beer cans, assuming it was litter, a Dutch museum revealed earlier this month.
Sum 41 lead singer Deryck Whibley alleges in his new memoir that he was pressured into a secret sexual relationship with his former manager, Treble Charger frontman Greig Nori.
Cissy Houston, the mother of the late Whitney Houston and a two-time Grammy winner who performed alongside superstar musicians like Elvis Presley, and Aretha Franklin, has died. She was 91.
Statistics Canada says the country posted a merchandise trade deficit of $1.1 billion in August as lower oil prices weighed on exports.
A new report from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce is sending a stark warning ahead of the U.S. presidential election, saying protectionist policies like Donald Trump's proposed tariffs could damage economies on both sides of the border.
A Toronto senior says she can’t believe that two roofers took advantage of her, despite knowing she was recently widowed and suffering from a painful disability.
Have you ever seen videos of hovercrafts online or on TV and thought, 'Wow, I wish I could ride one of those.' One Alberta man did, and then built his own.
A woman in Greater Sudbury, Ont., said "It doesn't get more Canadian than this" when she spotted a black bear dumpster diving at a Tim Hortons last month.
A Winnipeg baker is hanging up his apron permanently because he won the lottery.
The NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers and NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning have left Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton to practice the rest of the week.
RJ Barrett will miss the rest of the Toronto Raptors' pre-season with an injury.
New York Jets owner Woody Johnson made the stunning decision Tuesday to fire Saleh five games into his fourth season after the team's 2-3 start following a 23-17 loss to Minnesota in London on Sunday.
Mercedes-Benz has partnered up with the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN) and the provincial government to launch a new “incubator programâ€. One of the first three locations is Windsor, with the other two going to Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo.
New data from the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) shows that even though claims for auto theft dropped in the first half of 2024 compared to their 2023 peak, the rates of reported theft remain well above those of years prior.
Tesla is recalling more than 27,000 Cybertrucks because the rearview camera image may not activate immediately after shifting into reverse, the fifth recall for the vehicle since it went on sale late last year.
A B.C. couple is getting desperate – and creative – in their search for their missing dog.
Videos of a meteor streaking across the skies of southern Ontario have surfaced and small bits of the outer space rock may have made it to land, one astronomy professor says.
A unique form of clouds made an appearance over the skies of Ottawa on Sunday evening.
Bernie Hicks, known as the ‘Batman of Amherst,’ always wanted to sit in a Batmobile until a kind stranger made it happen.
Bubi’s Awesome Eats, located on University Ave West took to social media to announce the closure on Friday.
Weeneebayko Area Health Authority and the Government of Ontario have awarded a $1.8 billion fixed-price contract to design, build and finance a new Far North hospital.
Manitobans are in cleanup mode after intense winds barreled through southern parts of the province this weekend.
Avry Wortman, 13, scored two touchdowns on Sunday during her team's win in the under 14 Greater Moncton Football Association.
A gargantuan gourd – affectionately named ‘Orangina’ by the urban gardeners who grew it in the front yard of their Vancouver home – earned the massive honour of being named B.C.’s heaviest giant pumpkin Saturday.
A woman was seriously injured in Surrey in the early hours of Saturday morning in what police say appears to have been a random, public attack – potentially involving multiple suspects.
A retrial date has been set for a man accused of fatally shooting a rival gang member and an innocent teen passerby in Vancouver in 2018.
A man who showed up at a rental car company only to be told his online reservation would not be honoured is entitled to compensation, B.C.'s small claims tribunal has ruled.
More than two weeks have passed since Hassan Ali walked out of a Toronto courtroom a free man, after prosecutors decided not to move forward with a first-degree murder trial against the local rapper.
After reaching peak intensity with wind speeds of 180 m.p.h. (285 km/h) on Monday night, Milton became the strongest storm on our planet for 2024.
An organization that ranks the best universities across the globe says its latest report shows a concerning trend that several of Canada’s institutions are slipping down its list.
A fire that led to an explosion in a northeast Calgary townhome over the weekend is believed to have been set intentionally, according to police.
Calgary police are investigating after several shots were fired by a suspect into a truck in the northeast community of Saddle Ridge.
A Calgary officer's use of force in an August police-involved shooting has been deemed appropriate following an investigation.
On September 11, Madeleine Gervais was the victim of a theft in Ottawa's west end. It happened in the Loblaws parking lot in College Square, when she was approached by a man and a woman who insisted to help her load her groceries into her car.
OC Transpo officials are satisfied with the start of a critical testing period required before opening Ottawa's new north-south train, despite some technical issues being identified on three trains on Monday.
An Ottawa man who stabbed his estranged wife to death in an attack that also injured his daughter in Ottawa's west end has been found guilty of first-degree murder and attempted murder.
An 18-year-old man has died following a collision with an STM bus on Tuesday afternoon in the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough.
Quebec's chief coroner ordered a public inquest Tuesday into a fatal Old Montreal fire that claimed the lives of two French nationals last week -- the second deadly fire in the historic neighbourhood in less than two years.
Montreal police (SPVM) arrested a 15-year-old in connection with an alleged arson in Saint-Leonard that occurred on the weekend.
A 38-year-old Beaumont resident is dead after a crash involving a motorcycle over the weekend.
Edmonton's transit system is seeing record usage, with six million trips taken in September.
The grind begins Wednesday for the Edmonton Oilers, but their head coach isn't trying to look too far ahead as the National Hockey League (NHL) team tries to reach the Stanley Cup Final as it did last season.
Police in New Brunswick are trying to track down a man they consider “armed and dangerous†after he allegedly crashed a vehicle, waved a weapon at police, and fled in a stolen vehicle.
International award-winning editorial cartoonist Michael de Adder has been cut from the Halifax Chronicle Herald.
After reaching peak intensity with wind speeds of 180 m.p.h. (285 km/h) on Monday night, Milton became the strongest storm on our planet for 2024.
Concerns are being raised over a questionable PC campaign expense, after an invoice for a car rental was submitted by a company advertising sex and intimacy coaching.
There’s a new starting line-up at Canada Life Centre, which hockey fans and concertgoers will notice as soon as they walk in.
Manitoba RCMP and the Winnipeg Police Service are launching Manitoba's Most Wanted website.
Erin Folk and her family are dealing with a nightmare of a situation, after their pet dogs were shot last week.
Saskatchewan’s Jessica Campbell has made hockey history, becoming the first ever female assistant coach in the National Hockey League (NHL).
Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe says his party plans to increase tax credits for those with disabilities and their caregivers if re-elected on Oct. 28.
Fire crews were called to respond to Mohawk Plaza shortly before 2 a.m. Tuesday.
The future of a hybrid shelter in Waterloo is up for discussion.
An app developed at the University of Guelph is aimed at making accessible doors more accessible.
The province’s consumer watchdog is investigating a Saskatoon company selling luxury vacation condos in Mexico.
Saskatoon Transit workers have ratified a new five-year contract with the city.
A Saskatoon mom is desperately fighting eviction after she discovered mould in her suite and reported it to her landlord.
A crash Tuesday afternoon on Highway 144 has closed the road north of Sudbury.
After reaching peak intensity with wind speeds of 180 m.p.h. (285 km/h) on Monday night, Milton became the strongest storm on our planet for 2024.
Police in Huntsville are investigating a deadly single-vehicle collision that happened Tuesday morning.
Speaking in front of the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee, London Police Services (LPS) Chief Thai Truong gave an update on policing Tuesday.
After reaching peak intensity with wind speeds of 180 m.p.h. (285 km/h) on Monday night, Milton became the strongest storm on our planet for 2024.
During Fire Prevention Week, fire departments across the country are trying to prevent more deaths with the proper use of smoke alarms.
A 20-year-old man who was behind the wheel of a speeding car that struck and killed an international student in Barrie last summer pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death on Tuesday but will not spend any time behind bars.
Police in Huntsville are investigating a deadly single-vehicle collision that happened Tuesday morning.
Police arrested a man accused of setting an animal on fire in Orillia, Ont. last month.
A Toronto couple pleaded guilty to involvement in a $13-million drug investigation that started in Windsor.
The Windsor Police Service is investigating two break-ins that took place at schools in the city last week.
The busiest international crossing in North America is about to get busier — and it’s put the City of Windsor in a position to prepare for potential worst-case scenarios.
A retrial date has been set for a man accused of fatally shooting a rival gang member and an innocent teen passerby in Vancouver in 2018.
Over the summer, Victoria software engineer Vedran Budimcic watched his wife spend a week trying to get a coveted BC Ferries reservation, refreshing the website hundreds of times a day hoping for a cancellation on sold out sailings.
The leaders of B.C.'s three main political parties will be facing off Tuesday evening for their first and only televised debate ahead of the Oct. 19 election. Here's what viewers can expect.
Nearly two years after a man was stabbed to death in downtown Kelowna, RCMP have made an arrest in the case.
NDP Leader David Eby is promising to offer a $75-million loan forgiveness program to entice doctors, nurses and heath professionals to expand health-care services in rural British Columbia.
Three young suspects have been arrested in connection with a swarming attack on a teenager in B.C.'s Okanagan last week – and authorities have asked the public to stop circulating disturbing videos of the incident.
Charges have been laid against a 44-year-old man following a traffic stop in Brocket, Piikani Nation RCMP said Tuesday.
A metal fabrication company west of Medicine Hat has been fined by Alberta Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) following a workplace fatality in 2023.
A Lethbridge police officer involved in a scandal involving former Lethbridge New Democrat MLA Shannon Phillips has been reprimanded.
A woman in Greater Sudbury, Ont., said "It doesn't get more Canadian than this" when she spotted a black bear dumpster diving at a Tim Hortons last month.
The Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) is the latest organization to call on the Doug Ford government to re-open dialogue with an airline service that transports lower-income Canadians to crucial medical care far from home.
For decades, Mississauga First Nation has known that human remains from their land were at the Canadian Museum of History.
A Conservative MP from Newfoundland and Labrador says some small towns in his rural riding are overrun with crime, but police say they haven't received reports to that effect.
As millions in federal funding flow into a Labrador group whose claims of Inuit identity have been rejected by Indigenous organizations across Canada, a national Inuit leader worries the Liberal government is putting the rights of Indigenous Peoples at risk.
He may not have logged the fastest time or even gone the full distance, but residents of a Newfoundland town agree the goat who unexpectedly joined the local weekend half marathon was the event's undisputed champion.
The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at Â鶹´«Ã½. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us.
