COP27: Fears of compromise on key 1.5C global temperature issue

At Paris 2015 it was agreed that countries would try to limit the average rise in temperatures to 1.5C - this key target was reinforced at COP26. However, this target is under threat with senior officials worrying that it might be softened as a way of compromise as countries such as China and India question the feasibility of this figure.

Climate scientists have reinforced over and over again just how important it is to keep global warming to 1.5C by 2100 to avoid seeing the worst consequences of climate change. However Simon Stiell, the UN's climate chief, says there are too many unresolved issues with widespread disagreement between countries, and that not enough progress has been made since the target was set.

At COP26 all countries agreed to "keep 1.5C alive" by undertaking "rapid, deep and sustained" cuts in greenhouse gases. However at the G20 meeting held in August over the summer saw disagreement on how to tackle climate change, and China and India questioning the 1.5 threshold - generating discussion of whether this target was no longer attainable.

But many senior figures have reinforced that no matter how difficult the negotiations are, 1.5C must be the focus - and all countries need to be fully committed to this, and countries like China and India need to learn from the mistakes of the richest countries in terms of fossil fuel usage.

The LDC group, which represents the 46 Least Developed Countries in the world, have released a very strong statement stating that they are "resolutely opposed to any watering down of this key commitment" - after all there are the most vulnerable to the impacts of rising temperatures, and that "COP27 must send a strong political signal and show that the world is united on fighting climate change".