Paris climate change talks: what doctors need to know

John Vidal sets out the problems in reaching international agreement on climate change This year’s UN climate summit is the culmination of 20 years of intense talks to reach a new agreement to tackle global warming. It will be judged a success if the 196 countries going to Paris next week deliver a new, legally binding treaty committing all countries to reduce, or to cap, their greenhouse gas emissions. If it also manages to get them to increase their ambition enough to hold global temperatures to a maximum increase of 2°C by 2030 it will be seen as a historic deal likely to set the world on a clean energy path. Expectations are high because the climate situation seems to be worsening. This year has been marked by the highest average global temperatures, the …