IT IS a measure of the pressure on Western governments — not only from their own peoples but from the overwhelming majority of developing countries, and even from certain sectors of finance capital — that the Cop26 summit has resulted in some international agreements so far.

In 2015, the Paris Cop21 summit agreed the goal of keeping the global temperature rise to within 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. 

However, since then greenhouse gas emissions have grown steadily, with the main component, CO₂, now at about 40 billion tonnes annually and the global temperature rise currently around 1.2°C. To stay under the 1.5°C limit, emissions in 2030 will need to have fallen by 45 per cent globally compared with 2010.