BY the end of November this year, world leaders will assemble in Paris for a historic summit that promises to gradually cut or phase out the use of climate-altering carbon emissions and inaugurate greater global reliance on clean energy sources.

The promise will begin to take concrete form as soon as all 196 UN members submit their “intended nationally determined commitments” (INDCs) which will determine whether the world can stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere and limit global temperature rise to 2 degrees Centigrade in order to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.