FIVE years ago, on Dec 12, all 196 nations in the world signed a treaty in Paris to curb climate change. The United Nations official behind the deal, Christiana Figueres, said afterwards that it had “ignited a huge flame of hope” after two decades of tortuous negotiations. The signatories all committed to cut their carbon emissions in order to limit global warming to “well below” 2°C above pre-industrial times, if not 1.5°C. Today, that promise has not only failed to materialise but total emissions have climbed compared to three decades ago, according to news emerging from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).