"A series of key reports released over the past month have proven just how ineffective global efforts to address climate change have been. Greenhouse gases (GHG) keep on rising, and the planned production of fossil fuels provides countries with no chance of achieving the 2015 Paris Agreement – a treaty ratified by 184 countries which aims to limit global temperature increases to below two degrees Celsius by 2100 and no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. Despite ambitious goals, the voluntary nature of the Paris Agreement – along with its numerous loopholes and technicalities – means that decisive action in reducing emissions, addressing climate change and adopting renewable energy remains elusive. With Southeast Asia expected to face the brunt of the damage from climate change, a report by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) yesterday that GHG in the atmosphere have reached another new record high means that the region can look forward to more rising temperatures, sea levels and disruptions to marine and land ecosystems. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) noted last year that average temperatures in Southeast Asia have risen every decade since 1960 – with Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam among the 10 countries in the world most affected by climate change in the past 20 years..."