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- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
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- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
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- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
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- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
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- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
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- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
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- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
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Politicians failing to grasp 'scientific reality' of climate: expert
Wavering ambition by governments and a growing belief that science is politically subjective are great causes for concern in a rapidly escalating climate crisis, an expert told AFP.
A cascade of extreme weather events have inflicted devastation in 2023, which the European Union's climate monitor says is likely to be the hottest in human history.
It underscores the urgency of slashing planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions to avert the catastrophic impacts of greater global warming.
Yet several countries have drawn criticism for moves to weaken their climate policies in recent weeks, including Sweden and Britain, which has also approved a new oil project.
Meanwhile in the United States, climate-sceptic presidential candidates -- notably Donald Trump -- are Republican frontrunners.
For Francois Gemenne, a political scientist who contributed to the last report series of the UN's expert advisory panel, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the trends are worrying.
"I am very concerned by a whole series of climbdowns we are seeing from a political or economic point of view," the Belgian told AFP.
The IPCC lead author cited British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's latest policy changes and leading Republican politicians in the United States "who do not recognise the scientific reality of climate change".
"What bothers me is the fact that science, for a part of the population that might be growing, is becoming a matter of belief, opinion, even ideology," said Gemenne.
Current climate-related damage is happening with global temperatures at around 1.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and as the world lurches towards breaching the key 1.5C target agreed in Paris in 2015.
Gemenne warned that climate trends may even exceed the predictions of some modelling, describing the situation as a "merciless machine".
The climate chaos may prove that humanity has not yet fully grasped the "deeply structural character" of climate change, he added.
"Until we reach carbon neutrality, heat records are going to be systematically broken week after week, month after month, year after year. It's possible that reality goes a little beyond the models."
- Fighting 'climate inertia' -
One of the trickiest challenges governments face is weighing the urgency of climate action and the investments needed for the green transition against short-term challenges: global inflation, an energy crisis driven by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and squeezed household budgets.
There is a perception that fighting climate change implies giving up on luxuries taken for granted in much of the wealthier parts of the world, such as high levels of consumption, air travel or eating meat.
But in the face of this "climate inertia", Gemenne believes people must be shown how climate action is in their interest.
"We always describe it as a list of efforts to make, sacrifices, giving up, things we do not really feel like doing," he said.
"We must show why it is in our interests and therefore how life can change for the better."
T.Vitorino--PC