Dr Peter Carter: summarising the lack of "climate emergency" at #COP25

"This is very very very bad.

2 degrees C warming is total catastrophe.1.5 degrees C is still disastrous but that is where we must aim. All of the scientists are now behind the 1.5 degrees C target even though it seems almost impossible to do that. The scientists on a panel at COP said it's possible if we reduce emissions by 7% per year. So every year matters.

Emissions have to decline rapidly from 2020 to hit both 1.5 degrees and the catastrophic 2 degrees target. But instead what we're seeing is basically the end for humanity. We're looking at biosphere collapse.

The amount of the three main greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere is accelerating. There has been a massive eruption of methane in the Arctic which has gone practically unreported. We've never seen anything like it. Methane is at levels not seen for 40 million years. This year the increase in carbon dioxide was the highest it has ever been. That means we're on a trend to total planetary catastrophe.

The bottom third of sub-Saharan Africa is all in severe severe drought, which it's been in for a few years.

Chile is in a mega-drought. Certain regions in Chile are never going to get out of this drought. Scientists will soon say the same about Australia.

What's happening to lessen these problems? Absoutely nothing. Nothing is going to come out of this COP - that was decided on the very first day.

The COP has always been set up to fail because major decisions are made "by consensus", but there's no defintion for consensus. A two thirds majority was rejected as definition. Whoever hosts the COP meeting makes an ad hoc decision as to what consensus is, and it's always either total unanimity or virtual unanimity (meaning a handful of high-emissions countries like USA, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait can block any decisions).

This is a terrible, terrible, unprecedented crime. It's unbelievable what these high emitting, fossil fuel countries are doing. The result of this is evil. The countries that are blocking any progress on emissions are acting in the most evil way that anyone could imagine because we're looking at the destruction of Earth; oceans and land."