Ahead of this year's COP28 climate summit in Dubai, UN agencies have released several reports offering updates on global progress in curbing climate change.

Here are some of the most important findings:

Global greenhouse gas emissions rose by 1.2 percent from 2021 to 2022, reaching 57.4 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, according to a UN emissions gap report. If countries do not quickly plan sharp cuts, global temperatures will rise by almost 3 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels this century, the agency said - far beyond the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit that scientists say would begin to trigger catastrophic consequences.  The report, released on November 20, compares countries' planned climate action with what is needed to meet global climate goals. It found that these pledges have set the world on a path to a temperature increase of 2.5 to 2.9 degrees Celsius . Even under the most optimistic emissions scenario, it found there was only a 14 percent chance of keeping warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius – adding to the growing body of scientific evidence suggesting that the central goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement is out of reach. (Reuters/week)