World ‘way off course’, UN warns at crunch climate summit

The world is "way off course" in its plan to prevent catastrophic climate change, the United Nations has warned as nations gathered in Poland to chart a way for mankind to avert runaway global warming.

After a string of damning scientific reports showing humanity must drastically slash its greenhouse gas emissions within the next decade, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told delegates at the opening of a UN climate summit that "we are still not doing enough, nor moving fast enough."

Monday will see leaders from at-risk nations such as Fiji, Nigeria and Nepal plead their case at the COP24 climate talks, which aim to flesh out the promises agreed in the 2015 Paris climate accord.

But host Poland -- heavily reliant on energy from coal -- will push its own agenda: a "just transition" from fossil fuels that critics say could allow it to continue polluting for decades.

Nor are any of the world's largest emitters represented at the highest level in Poland.

The Paris deal saw nations agree to limit global temperature rises to below two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) and under 1.5C if possible.

Officials from nearly 200 countries now have two weeks to finalize how those goals work in practice, even as science suggests the pace of climate change is rapidly outstripping mankind's response.

The World Bank on Monday announced $200 billion (175 billion euros) in climate action investment for 2021-25 -- a major shot in the arm for green initiatives but one which needs bolstering by state-provided funding.

The background to Monday's summit could hardly be bleaker: with just one Celsius of warming so far, Earth is bombarded with raging wildfires, widespread crop failures and super-storms exacerbated by rising sea levels.

"Even as we witness devastating climate impacts causing havoc across the world, we are still not doing enough, nor moving fast enough, to prevent irreversible and catastrophic climate disruption," Guterres said.

The UN's own expert climate panel in October issued its starkest warning to date.

To have any hope of reaching the 1.5C goal by the end of the century, it said emissions from fossil fuel use must be halved by 2030.

Poland is one of many nations heavily reliant on coal and wants this round of talks to reflect the role fossil fuels play in its economy.

On Monday, it will unveil a declaration calling on states to "recognize the challenges faced by sectors, cities and regions in transition from fossil fuels... and the importance to ensure a decent future for workers impacted by the transition."

SS