New York, Europe Brief News – The planet is heading for “climate catastrophe”, a UN report has warned.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) released its annual Emissions Gap report. The report showed that current commitments by governments to curb the rise of global temperature are “woefully inadequate”.
Current government climate policies leave the planet on track to reach an average 2.8 degrees Celsius temperature rise this century, the report said. Implementation of current pledges will lower the rise of temperature to 2.4-2.6C (4.3-4.7F) this century.
Government officials will meet from November 6-18 at the COP 27 climate talks in Egypt to discuss how to limit the warming to below 2C (3.6 F) above pre-industrial levels and ideally to 1.5C (2.7F).
COP 26 summit pledges
Last year, leaders made additional pledges at the COP 26 summit in Glasgow hoping to reduce emissions.
Since the climate talks in Scotland, additional commitments were made to remove 0.5 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gas emissions (GtCO2e), less than 1 percent of estimated global emissions in 2030, the annual UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report showed.
Policies in place will likely lead to a 2.8C (5F) rise in temperature by the end of the century.
“We had our chance to make incremental changes, but that time is over. Only a root-and-branch transformation of our economies and societies can save us from accelerating climate disaster,” UNEP executive director Inger Andersen said.
To reach the goal of limiting warming to 1.5C, annual emissions must be reduced by 45& compared with emissions forecasts under current policies. The move requires the investment of at least $4-$6 trillion a year, the report said.
“It’s another year squandered in terms of actually doing something about the problem,” report lead author Anne Olhoff said.
“That’s not to say that all nations have not taken this seriously. But from a global perspective, it’s definitely very far from adequate.”
