INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Crunch climate talks begin in Poland this week amid growing concern that political action is lagging behind the rise in global
temperatures.The United Nations' conference, called COP24, is the most important gathering of climate negotiators since the Paris summit
three years ago.Officials will thrash out a "rulebook" for declaring and monitoring cuts in greenhouse gases.They will also spell out how
contributions will be made to a fund intended to mitigate the effects of climate change in less developed countries.
3:02
Video:'12 years left to save the world'The conference follows a series of scientific reports this year
warning that far bigger cuts to emissions are needed than were agreed in Paris.In 2015 world leaders, including US president Barack Obama,
China president Xi Jinping and prime minister David Cameron, signed up to a deal that would keep the rise in average global temperature to
no more than 2C.But the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said in October that the planet is responding faster and more dramatically
to the warming atmosphere than had been predicted - and the temperature rise must now be kept to no more than 1.5C.Professor Chris Rapley, a
climate scientist at University College London said the Earth "has been sending us some very strong messages" since the Paris deal, and
described the Polish conference as "pivotal"."All of our worst fears are founded," he said.
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Video:Analysis: How climate change could affect the UK"The system is changing more rapidly than we considered it would and this is
serious and we need to do something about it."In all parts of the globe there is too much water, too little water, fires, extreme events."We
know the world has warmed a degree compared with pre-industrial times and this is a red flag."It won't be too long if we carry on before we
hit the 1.5C guard rail."More than 180 countries have signed up to the Paris Agreement, but President Donald Trump has said the US will
withdraw because it is bad for coal mining jobs
He has said climate change is a "hoax", but has since backtracked.
1:15
Video:'Government failing to act on climate change'Morgan Currie, a US lecturer at Edinburgh University, has monitored how US federal
agencies have reported and archived climate data under the current administration.She and her collaborators found evidence that web pages
have been taken offline, documents deleted and the language altered.She told Sky News: "If we actually exit the Paris climate agreement, we
will be one of three nations in the world who've done that
He will be breaking with global consensus."The US has enormous impact as well, with regards to other countries who might not find the
agreement convenient this gives them a way out."If the US exits, other countries might too, making it harder to achieve the changes we
need."
1:43
Video:.Oldest sea ice in the arctic starts to meltFrustration over the slow
progress of climate action has resulted in a rise of groups such as Extinction Rebellion.The group has blocked roads and bridges in London,
and wants its activists to get arrested or even jailed to underscore the urgency of action from world leaders.Annie Randall, one of the
activists, went to the Paris summit and will be in Poland this week, but she's disillusioned."I don't have much faith in agreements like
Paris because they are not up to date."It is behind the scientific data; way too conservative."It is essentially greenwashing."
