Live. Climate Now Live Debate: Emissions are still rising, when will they start to fall?

Despite repeated warnings from climate scientists, greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) are still rising, with CO2 concentrations reaching a record high in 2023 of nearly 420 parts per million in our atmosphere. This comes as many expect last month to yet again set a new high as the warmest November on record, following a year of recording breaking figures from the Copernicus Climate Change Service.

From wildfires in Europe to floods in Pakistan, the reverberations of our failure to reduce emissions are being felt on a global scale. The IPCC says emissions must peak before 2025 if we are to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement, but time is rapidly running out.

Our expert panel of climate scientists and policymakers will be debating why GHGs are still rising live from COP28 in Dubai on December 5 at 8am CET (11am UAE Time).

You can watch the debate in this article or on Euronews' YouTube Channel.

While there has been some progress, drastic cuts still need to take place if warming is to be limited. In fact, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) states in its Emissions Gap 2023 Report, that projected emissions need to fall by a further 28 per cent by 2030 to stay within the Paris Agreement 2°C pathway. To have any hope of meeting the 1.5°C pathway target, they need to fall by a huge 42 per cent.

With GHGs rising by 1.2 per cent between 2021 and 2022, and with emissions reaching a record high of 57.4 Gigatonnes of Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (GtCO2e) in the same year, according to the UNEP, is there any hope of emissions peaking in time?

Our Climate Now live event also ties in with the release of the latest Climate Action Tracker report, the latest World Meteorological Organisation greenhouse gas bulletin report and the latest updates