Head of UN Climate Change says governments must strengthen their climate plans and implement them in the subsequent eight years.
A recent report by the United Nations has warned that the climate plans from governments worldwide remain insufficient to limit rising temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius as set out within the 2015 Paris Agreement.
With the planet already affected by climate-related storms, heatwaves and floods amid temperatures of 1.2C above pre-industrial levels, the UN’s climate experts said on Wednesday the world was still failing to act with sufficient urgency to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
“We’re still nowhere near the size and pace of emission reductions required to place us heading in the right direction toward a 1.5 degrees Celsius world,” Simon Stiell, executive secretary of UN Climate Change, said in an announcement.
“To maintain this goal alive, national governments must strengthen their climate motion plans now and implement them in the subsequent eight years.”
🆕 UN Climate Change report 🆕
A recent report summarizing countries’ national climate plans (#NDCs) shows that current commitments remain insufficient to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C by the top of the century.#COP27 | #ClimateCrisis
— UN Climate Change (@UNFCCC) October 26, 2022
The UN’s climate experts have said emissions, compared with 2010 levels, must fall by 43 percent by 2030 with a purpose to meet the Paris deal’s goal.
But in its latest report, the UN said current commitments from governments will, in reality, increase emissions by 10.6 percent by 2030.
Nevertheless, the report found that this was “an improvement” over last yr’s assessment, which said the countries were on a path to extend emissions by 13.7 percent by 2030.
‘Disappointing’
Stiell said that while all countries agreed to revisit and strengthen their climate plans last yr on the twenty sixth Conference of the Parties (COP26) – a worldwide event to deal with the climate crisis – only 24 nations provided updated or recent climate plans since then, calling it “disappointing”.
“Government decisions and actions must reflect the extent of urgency, the gravity of the threats we face, and the shortness of the time we now have remaining to avoid the devastating consequences of runaway climate change.”
The 24 countries include Bolivia, Vanuatu and Uganda, in addition to the massive emitter nations of India and Indonesia. The latter, which sees most emissions come from deforestation and peatland clearance, now says it can cut emissions levels by no less than 31.89 percent by 2030.
Globally, inadequate pledges put the world on a path to warm by 2.5C by 2100.
The report comes lower than two weeks before world leaders are set to assemble in Egypt for COP27.
On the upcoming climate talks in Sharm el-Sheikh, which is able to happen from November 6 to November 18, certainly one of the important thing issues shall be providing funding to assist poorer countries curb their emissions and strengthen their resilience.
“COP27 have to be the place for clarity on vital funding for adaptation and resilience,” UN chief Antonio Guterres told the world body’s General Assembly earlier this month, adding that the event in Egypt “have to be the place for serious motion on loss and damage”.
