UAE, Azerbaijan, Brazil join forces to limit global warming to 1.5C

Three former and future UN climate summit hosts will form a ‘troika’ to to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan and Brazil, former and future hosts of UN climate summits, are joining forces to push for an international agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).

On Tuesday, the UAE’s Conference of the Parties (COP28) presidency said that it would form a “troika” to focus on ensuring that more ambitious CO2-cutting pledges are made ahead of a deadline at the COP30 summit to be held in 2025 in Belem, Brazil. Azerbaijan will host this year’s United Nations climate event in November.

“We cannot afford to lose momentum, we must do everything we can to keep 1.5 C within reach,” said Sultan Al Jaber, the Emirati president of last year’s negotiations.

In 2015, almost 200 governments signed the unprecedented Paris climate agreement to phase out fossil fuels in favour of renewable energy in the second half of the century by capping global warming at 1.5C.

That target is fast slipping out of reach, as global greenhouse gas emissions continue to soar. The next round of countries’ climate targets is seen as a crucial last chance to prevent global warming exceeding the 1.5C limit.

The troika partnership should “significantly enhance international cooperation and the international enabling environment to stimulate ambition in the next round of nationally determined contributions”, read the final agreement reached at COP28.

Last week European climate monitors reported that for the first time global warming had exceeded temperatures of 1.5C over a 12-month period, in what scientists called a “warning to humanity”.

Storms, drought and fires lashed the