Scientists are certain that as the impacts of a warming atmosphere bite harder, small islands will be the first to suffer as a result of rising seas or more intense storms. Expect the host Fijians to ram this message home at COP23.

9 things to look out for at COP23:

  1. The UK-Canada alliance against coal.
  2. Policing climate action: Talks on a Paris Agreement rule book kick off again this week.
  3. Polluters in court: Climate litigation is now a thing.
  4. Attributing extreme weather to greenhouse gases: It is now possible to quantitatively determine the contribution of individual countries to global mean temperature change.
  5. Pre-2020 action: We know we need to bend the curve of emissions by 2020.
  6. Poland and the Talanoa Dialogue: Does the world really want Poland to be guiding global climate talks through 2018?
  7. The (Trump who?) US pavilion:  State leaders have stepped in to fund a vast pavilion on the edges of the talks.
  8. The Macron Factor: Can France’s youthful leader in tandem with Canada’s Trudeau offer genuine leadership on climate?
  9. Oil prices: OPEC is contemplating a rise to $60–70 a barrel.

Read the full article on COP23 by Ed King at ImpactAlpha