World off-target on temperature goal
The world might miss the opportunity to get on track towards the 1.5°C temperature goal of the Paris Agreement unless global greenhouse gas emissions fall by 7.6 per cent each year between 2020 and 2030.
This is according to UNEP’s annual Emissions Gap Report which says even if all current unconditional commitments under the Paris Agreement are implemented, temperatures are expected to rise by 3.2°C, bringing even wider-ranging and more destructive climate impacts.
“For ten years, the Emissions Gap Report has been sounding the alarm – and for ten years, the world has only increased its emissions,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
“There has never been a more important time to listen to the science. Failure to heed to these warnings and take drastic action to reverse emissions means we will continue to witness deadly and catastrophic heatwaves, storms and pollution,” he added.
Collective ambition must increase more than fivefold over current levels to deliver the cuts needed over the next decade for the 1.5°C goal.
Step up
Because of this, quick wins are needed to reduce emissions as much as possible in 2020, then stronger Nationally Determined Contributions to kick-start the major transformations of economies and societies.
This is because of the need to catch up on the years in which there was procrastination. “If we don’t do this, the 1.5°C goal will be out of reach before 2030.
Our collective failure to act early and hard on climate change means we now must deliver deep cuts to emissions over seven per cent each year,” said Inger Andersen, UNEP’s Executive Director.
She added: “This shows countries simply cannot wait until the end of 2020, when new climate commitments are due, to step up action. They – and every city, region, business and individual needs to act now.”
2020 is a critical year for climate action, with the UN climate change conference in Glasgow aiming to determine the future of efforts to avert crisis, and countries expected to step up their climate commitments.
