Hello and welcome to the intelligence on Economist Radio. I'm your host, Edward McBride, standing in for Jason Palmer.

Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

China's leaders have been trying to force their subjects to speak a standard form of Mandarin for centuries.

But almost a third of the population can't.

The authorities tend to see that as a problem.

But many businesses spy a commercial opportunity.

Uber may seem like a wonderful convenience to some and an emblem of exploitation to others,

but one thing's for sure, it's driving people to drink.

An academic study finds that when Uber starts operating in a new city,

people's alcohol consumption increases.

First up, though. Yesterday, the United Nations released its annual report on progress towards globally agreed climate goals.

The outlook is bleak and getting bleaker. The emissions gap report compares

where greenhouse gas emissions are headed versus where they need to be. As of today,

concentrations of the gases in the atmosphere are at record highs. Not only have they failed to

decline, they aren't even slowing down.

The news comes in the wake of a year of devastating hurricanes, wildfires and heat waves.

Do not let our planet die.

Private change is not a lie.

Millions of protesters around the world have called attention to the climate crisis.

But as this report shows, its catastrophic effects are closer than ever before.

Overall, if you look at emissions, including agriculture, including things like deforestation, emissions are rising by one and a half percent per year. And there we saw 55.3 billion tons of greenhouse gases

chucked into the atmosphere last year in 2018.

...