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Robert Falcon Scott wrote in his on 29 March 1912: “We shall stick it out to the end, but we are getting weaker, of course, and the end cannot be far.”

As we enter another COP, with the world at , it feels as though the hope of “keeping 1.5°C alive” is similarly dwindling. But we cannot give up hope – too much depends on it. 

As COP26 in Glasgow drew to a close, I said it had provided . 

̽»¨Ö±²¥twelve months since have been harsh ones. ̽»¨Ö±²¥Russian invasion of Ukraine and the impacts on global energy prices have driven a cost-of-living crisis that is reverberating globally. ̽»¨Ö±²¥impacts of climate change have been continuing to take their toll on communities around the world. In the UK we experienced record heat with leading to , mostly the elderly. Devastating floods in Pakistan have left .

̽»¨Ö±²¥IPCC has stated that impacts of climate change on extreme weather are now being felt in and that reaching 1.5°C would be . It has also made it clear that addressing climate change requires rapid, deep and in most cases immediate reductions in greenhouse gases in .

But there is still time to act.

Countries must come together at COP27 and increase the ambition in their pledges of emissions reductions, and then translate those through to policies and actions that bring to a halt the .

Every fraction of a degree counts to reducing the worst impacts of climate change.

But with heatwaves, floods and droughts already causing devastation, it is also essential that climate vulnerable countries are supported and that commitments on adaptation and loss and damage are honoured. ̽»¨Ö±²¥importance of this is highlighted powerfully in a film we are launching at COP27 of from around the world in which young and older people share their experiences of climate change in their lifetimes.

̽»¨Ö±²¥private sector too has a critically important role. At COP27 we are helping to foster that through a being organised by the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

We must stick it out and redouble our resolve to tackle this global crisis. With the sort of human creativity and ingenuity that is so vibrant within the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge it is possible to realise a green future –  a future in which we, and our children and grandchildren, can thrive.

Professor Emily Shuckburgh OBE is a world-leading climate scientist and Director of , the ̽»¨Ö±²¥ of Cambridge’s ambitious response to climate change.