The world has moved on since the triumph at Paris in 2015, when the world united around a pledge to limit global warming to less than two degrees Celsius, against a current trajectory of a four to five degree-rise by the end of the century.

Meeting this target will require a restructuring of the global economy, to limit and then reduce the global emissions of greenhouse gases. This will include upgrading inefficient and climate vulnerable infrastructure, scaling up renewable energy generation, improving energy efficiency in industry and buildings, and shifting to new forms of agricultural practice and land-use management.

Read Erik Solheim, UN Environment Head writing in the Executive Perspective series of blogs, on Thomson Reuters’ Sustainability website.