A RECENT study by a group of leading climate scientists has revealed that global warming has accelerated at an "unprecedented" pace and that the window for keeping temperatures at manageable levels is fast closing.

The 2015 Paris Agreement was hailed as a landmark treaty, with almost 200 countries deciding to "pursue efforts" to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and to keep it "well below" 2.0 C above preindustrial levels.

The 1.5 C cap was agreed on because it was believed that beyond that, the impact of climate change could be extreme and even irreversible.

To achieve this goal, greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced dramatically by the end of this century.

There was initial optimism that the target of slashing emissions by half as early as 2030 was achievable. That optimism has since been replaced by dismay and alarm as emissions — primarily from the use of fossil fuels — hit all-time highs.

In 2022, emissions totaled 55 billion tons. The study blames the buildup for pushing up the average global temperature from 2014 to 2023, which was 1.19 degrees higher than the pre-industrial benchmark and surpassing the 1.14 degrees a decade earlier.

We already are feeling the effects of a planet that continues to heat up. The year 2023 was the hottest on record, highlighted by massive wildfires, intense storms and heat waves.

The Philippines has just sweltered through a scorching summer that was enhanced by a prolonged El Niño.

In Panama, an island has been evacuated because of rising sea levels as glaciers and ice sheets melt at a startling pace.

A co-author of the study said we had gone past the point of merely stabilizing emissions, adding: "We need emissions to go down to net zero."

If emissions continue at the same rate, 1.5 C would become the "long-term average," he warned.

When that happens, we will face more hot days, and up to 10 million more people will be vulnerable to more frequent flooding.

It has become a ritual during a climate summit to make pledges to cut down on the use of fossil fuels. Those pledges remain largely unfulfilled, and we're burning more fossil fuels than ever.

Even if the promises are met, warming is still projected to climb to 2.1 C by 2100.

The Paris Agreement also got wealthy countries to commit to provide $100 billion annually to help poorer nations ease the impact of climate change. In 2020, the donors managed to raise only $88 billion.

Over the years, the low-income countries have become more vocal in demanding "climate justice" for bearing the brunt of a climate breakdown that is not of their own making. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which was adopted by the Paris Agreement, states that rich countries that contribute to the crisis must provide financial support to help economically strapped nations reduce emissions and mitigate climate impacts.

The UN Development Program (UNDP) frames climate justice more concisely:

"Countries, industries, businesses and people that have become wealthy from emitting large amounts of greenhouse gases have a responsibility to help those affected by climate change, particularly the vulnerable countries and communities, who often are the ones that have contributed the least to the crisis."

The UNDP said that between 2010 and 2020, deaths from floods, droughts and storms were 15 times higher in highly vulnerable regions than in regions with very low vulnerability.

Climate justice looms as a key issue at November's COP29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan. The UNDP notes that more countries, the Philippines among them, are pushing to bring justice to the center of environmental and climate debate.

The Small Island Developing States, a group of island nations and territories in the Pacific, has become a leading advocate of climate justice and is expected to be an influential force at the Baku summit.

As the impacts of the climate crisis become manifest, we need to be constantly reminded that we are approaching a critical moment when we must act decisively to keep the climate crisis from spiraling out of control.

The fate of our planet depends on it.

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