COP31: Are the World's Climate Summits Actually Working Anymore?

Episode 409

COP31 is about to take place against the backdrop of a year of accelerating climate disasters, plus a record breaking October and confirmation that we’ve exceeded the Paris climate agreement.

This year's UN climate meeting isn’t planned to be a big one, but will be essential in ironing out a lot of the unresolved agreements made at last year’s meeting in Brazil. But as people continue to question the value of the COP process, can these summits move the needle or do they need major reform?

To discuss what we can expect and whether COP is still effective, Rowan Hooper is joined by environment reporter Madeleine Cuff and Mark Maslin, professor of Earth System Science at University College London.

To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/

Image Credits: 

COP 30: hlcchampions, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

COP 21: Guilhem Vellut from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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