World is way off course in its plan to prevent catastrophic climate change, warns UN

Katowice (Poland): The world is “way off course” in its plan to prevent catastrophic climate change, the United Nations warned on Monday 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: “We are still not doing enough, nor moving fast enough”.

Monday will see leaders from at-risk nations 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.