World on 'catastrophic' path to 2.7C warming, warns UN chief
Issued on: 17/09/2021 -
Issued on: 17/09/2021 -
UN chief Antonio Guterres on September 17, 2021 warned a failure to slash global emissions is setting the world on a "catastrophic" path to 2.7 degrees Celsius heating.
© Fabrice Coffrini, AFP
Text by:NEWS WIRES
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A failure to slash global emissions is setting the world on a "catastrophic" path to 2.7 degrees Celsius heating, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned Friday just weeks before crunch climate talks.
His comments come as a United Nations report on global emissions pledges found instead of the reductions needed to avoid the worst effects of climate change, they would see "a considerable increase".
This shows "the world is on a catastrophic pathway to 2.7-degrees of heating," Guterres said in a statement.
The figure would shatter the temperature targets of the Paris climate agreement, which aimed for warming well below 2C and preferably capped at 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.
"Failure to meet this goal will be measured in the massive loss of lives and livelihoods," Guterres said.
But a bombshell "code red" for humanity from the world's pre-eminent body on global warming in August warned that Earth's average temperature will be 1.5C higher around 2030, a decade earlier than projected only three years ago.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that emissions should be around 45 percent lower by 2030 compared with 2010 levels to meet the 1.5C goal.
The UN said on Friday that current pledges by 191 countries would see emissions 16 percent higher at end of the decade than in 2010 -- a level that would eventually cause the world to warm 2.7C.
"Overall greenhouse gas emission numbers are moving in the wrong direction," said UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa in a press conference.
But she said there was a "glimmer of hope" from 113 countries that had updated their pledges, including the United States and European Union.
These new pledges, known as Nationally Determined Contributions, would see their emissions reduced 12 percent by 2030 compared to 2010.
Big emitters
With only 1.1C of warming so far, the world has seen a torrent of deadly weather disasters intensified by climate change in recent months, from asphalt-melting heatwaves to flash floods and untameable wildfires.
The Paris deal included a "ratchet" mechanism in which signatories agreed to a rolling five-year review of their climate pledges in which they are supposed to display ever greater ambition for action.
But many major emitters have yet to issue new targets.
That includes China -- the world's biggest emitter -- has said it will reach net zero emissions by 2060, but has not yet delivered its NDC that would spell out emissions reductions by 2030.
Meanwhile new targets from Brazil and Mexico were actually weaker than those they submitted five years ago, according to an analysis by the World Resources Institute.
The UN report was a "damning indictment" of global progress on climate, particularly by G20 nations, responsible for the lion's share of emissions, said Mohamed Adow, who leads the think tank Power Shift Africa.
"They are the countries which have caused this crisis and yet are failing to show the leadership required to lead us out of this mess," he said.
Time to 'deliver'
Another issue on the table at the Glasgow summit will be a pledge as yet unfulfilled -- the pledge by wealthy nations to provide annual climate funding of $100 billion from 2020 to poorer countries, who bear the greatest impact of warming.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on Friday said progress was "disappointing", with developing countries receiving $79.6 billion in 2019.
It warned that the target for 2020, which saw the world shaken by the Covid-19 pandemic, would be missed.
"The fight against climate change will only succeed if everyone comes together to promote more ambition, more cooperation and more credibility," said Guterres.
"It is time for leaders to stand and deliver, or people in all countries will pay a tragic price."
(AFP)
Text by:NEWS WIRES
3 min
Listen to the article
A failure to slash global emissions is setting the world on a "catastrophic" path to 2.7 degrees Celsius heating, UN chief Antonio Guterres warned Friday just weeks before crunch climate talks.
His comments come as a United Nations report on global emissions pledges found instead of the reductions needed to avoid the worst effects of climate change, they would see "a considerable increase".
This shows "the world is on a catastrophic pathway to 2.7-degrees of heating," Guterres said in a statement.
The figure would shatter the temperature targets of the Paris climate agreement, which aimed for warming well below 2C and preferably capped at 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.
"Failure to meet this goal will be measured in the massive loss of lives and livelihoods," Guterres said.
Under the landmark 2015 Paris deal, nations committed to slash emissions, as well as to provide assistance to the most climate-vulnerable countries.
But a bombshell "code red" for humanity from the world's pre-eminent body on global warming in August warned that Earth's average temperature will be 1.5C higher around 2030, a decade earlier than projected only three years ago.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says that emissions should be around 45 percent lower by 2030 compared with 2010 levels to meet the 1.5C goal.
The UN said on Friday that current pledges by 191 countries would see emissions 16 percent higher at end of the decade than in 2010 -- a level that would eventually cause the world to warm 2.7C.
"Overall greenhouse gas emission numbers are moving in the wrong direction," said UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa in a press conference.
But she said there was a "glimmer of hope" from 113 countries that had updated their pledges, including the United States and European Union.
These new pledges, known as Nationally Determined Contributions, would see their emissions reduced 12 percent by 2030 compared to 2010.
Big emitters
With only 1.1C of warming so far, the world has seen a torrent of deadly weather disasters intensified by climate change in recent months, from asphalt-melting heatwaves to flash floods and untameable wildfires.
The Paris deal included a "ratchet" mechanism in which signatories agreed to a rolling five-year review of their climate pledges in which they are supposed to display ever greater ambition for action.
But many major emitters have yet to issue new targets.
That includes China -- the world's biggest emitter -- has said it will reach net zero emissions by 2060, but has not yet delivered its NDC that would spell out emissions reductions by 2030.
Meanwhile new targets from Brazil and Mexico were actually weaker than those they submitted five years ago, according to an analysis by the World Resources Institute.
The UN report was a "damning indictment" of global progress on climate, particularly by G20 nations, responsible for the lion's share of emissions, said Mohamed Adow, who leads the think tank Power Shift Africa.
"They are the countries which have caused this crisis and yet are failing to show the leadership required to lead us out of this mess," he said.
Time to 'deliver'
Another issue on the table at the Glasgow summit will be a pledge as yet unfulfilled -- the pledge by wealthy nations to provide annual climate funding of $100 billion from 2020 to poorer countries, who bear the greatest impact of warming.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development on Friday said progress was "disappointing", with developing countries receiving $79.6 billion in 2019.
It warned that the target for 2020, which saw the world shaken by the Covid-19 pandemic, would be missed.
"The fight against climate change will only succeed if everyone comes together to promote more ambition, more cooperation and more credibility," said Guterres.
"It is time for leaders to stand and deliver, or people in all countries will pay a tragic price."
(AFP)
UN: Climate pledges put world on ‘catastrophic pathway’
FILE - In this Jan. 30, 2020 file photo, a ThyssenKrupp coking plant steams around the clock for the nearby steel mill in Duisburg, Germany. The cuts in greenhouse gas emissions pledged by governments around the world aren't enough to achieve the headline goal of the Paris climate accord, according to a United Nations report published Friday. The U.N. climate office said it reviewed all the national commitments submitted by Paris pact signatories until July 30 and found that they would result in emissions of planet-warming gas rising nearly 16% by 2030, compared with 2010 levels.
FILE - In this Jan. 30, 2020 file photo, a ThyssenKrupp coking plant steams around the clock for the nearby steel mill in Duisburg, Germany. The cuts in greenhouse gas emissions pledged by governments around the world aren't enough to achieve the headline goal of the Paris climate accord, according to a United Nations report published Friday. The U.N. climate office said it reviewed all the national commitments submitted by Paris pact signatories until July 30 and found that they would result in emissions of planet-warming gas rising nearly 16% by 2030, compared with 2010 levels.
(AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
BERLIN (AP) — The world is on a “catastrophic pathway” toward a hotter future unless governments make more ambitious pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the head of the United Nations said Friday.
A new U.N. report reviewing all the national commitments submitted by signatories of the Paris climate accord until July 30 found that they would result in emissions rising nearly 16% by 2030, compared with 2010 levels.
Scientists say the world must start to sharply curb emissions soon and add no more to the atmosphere by 2050 than can be absorbed if it is to meet the most ambitious goal of the Paris accord — capping global temperature rise at 1.5 Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) by 2100.
“The world is on a catastrophic pathway to 2.7 degrees (Celsius) of heating,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.
Experts say the planet has already warmed by 1.1 C since pre-industrial times.
“We need a 45% cut in emissions by 2030 to reach carbon neutrality by mid-century,” Guterres said.
Some 113 countries including the United States and the European Union submitted updates to their emissions targets, also known as nationally determined contributions or NDCs, by the end of July. Their pledges would result in a 12% drop in emissions for those countries by the end of the decade — a figure that could more than double if some governments’ conditional pledges and assurances about aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050 are translated into action.
“That’s the positive side of the picture,” said U.N. climate chief Patricia Espinosa, whose office compiled the latest report. “The other one is more sobering.”
Dozens of countries, including major emitters such as China, India and Saudi Arabia, failed to submit new pledges in time for the report.
Espinosa called for leaders at next week’s annual U.N. gathering in New York to put forward stronger commitments in time for the global body’s upcoming climate summit in Glasgow.
“Leaders must engage in a frank discussion driven not just by the very legitimate desire to protect national interest, but also by the equally commanding goal of contributing to the welfare of humanity,” she said. “We simply have no more time to spare, and people throughout the world expect nothing less.”
Espinosa added that some public pledges, such as China’s aim to be carbon neutral by 2060, haven’t yet been formally submitted to the U.N. and so weren’t taken into account for the report. An update, which would include any further commitments submitted by then, will be issued shortly before the Glasgow summit, she said.
Still, environmental campaigners and representatives of some vulnerable nations expressed their disappointment at the findings.
“We must ask what it will take for some major emitters to heed the scientific findings and deliver our world from a point of no return,” said Aubrey Webson of Antigua and Barbuda, who chairs the Association of Small Island States. “The findings are clear – if we are to avoid amplification of our already devastating climate impacts, we need major emitters and all G20 countries to implement and stick to more ambitious NDCs and make strong commitments to net-zero emissions by 2050.”
Jennifer Morgan, the executive director of Greenpeace International, said meeting the Paris goal would only be possible with “courageous leadership and bold decisions.”
“Governments are letting vested interests call the climate shots, rather than serving the global community,” she said. “Passing the buck to future generations has got to stop — we are living in the climate emergency now.”
___
Follow AP’s climate coverage at https://apnews.com/Climate
BERLIN (AP) — The world is on a “catastrophic pathway” toward a hotter future unless governments make more ambitious pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the head of the United Nations said Friday.
A new U.N. report reviewing all the national commitments submitted by signatories of the Paris climate accord until July 30 found that they would result in emissions rising nearly 16% by 2030, compared with 2010 levels.
Scientists say the world must start to sharply curb emissions soon and add no more to the atmosphere by 2050 than can be absorbed if it is to meet the most ambitious goal of the Paris accord — capping global temperature rise at 1.5 Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) by 2100.
“The world is on a catastrophic pathway to 2.7 degrees (Celsius) of heating,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.
Experts say the planet has already warmed by 1.1 C since pre-industrial times.
“We need a 45% cut in emissions by 2030 to reach carbon neutrality by mid-century,” Guterres said.
Some 113 countries including the United States and the European Union submitted updates to their emissions targets, also known as nationally determined contributions or NDCs, by the end of July. Their pledges would result in a 12% drop in emissions for those countries by the end of the decade — a figure that could more than double if some governments’ conditional pledges and assurances about aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050 are translated into action.
“That’s the positive side of the picture,” said U.N. climate chief Patricia Espinosa, whose office compiled the latest report. “The other one is more sobering.”
Dozens of countries, including major emitters such as China, India and Saudi Arabia, failed to submit new pledges in time for the report.
Espinosa called for leaders at next week’s annual U.N. gathering in New York to put forward stronger commitments in time for the global body’s upcoming climate summit in Glasgow.
“Leaders must engage in a frank discussion driven not just by the very legitimate desire to protect national interest, but also by the equally commanding goal of contributing to the welfare of humanity,” she said. “We simply have no more time to spare, and people throughout the world expect nothing less.”
Espinosa added that some public pledges, such as China’s aim to be carbon neutral by 2060, haven’t yet been formally submitted to the U.N. and so weren’t taken into account for the report. An update, which would include any further commitments submitted by then, will be issued shortly before the Glasgow summit, she said.
Still, environmental campaigners and representatives of some vulnerable nations expressed their disappointment at the findings.
“We must ask what it will take for some major emitters to heed the scientific findings and deliver our world from a point of no return,” said Aubrey Webson of Antigua and Barbuda, who chairs the Association of Small Island States. “The findings are clear – if we are to avoid amplification of our already devastating climate impacts, we need major emitters and all G20 countries to implement and stick to more ambitious NDCs and make strong commitments to net-zero emissions by 2050.”
Jennifer Morgan, the executive director of Greenpeace International, said meeting the Paris goal would only be possible with “courageous leadership and bold decisions.”
“Governments are letting vested interests call the climate shots, rather than serving the global community,” she said. “Passing the buck to future generations has got to stop — we are living in the climate emergency now.”
___
Follow AP’s climate coverage at https://apnews.com/Climate
