The United Nations Environment Program has released a new one with even worse news about our chances of avoiding a climate catastrophe caused by greenhouse gas emissions. According to this assessment, the current trajectory of international commitments will see the planet’s temperature rise by 2.6 degrees Celsius or more during this century. That amount of temperature change can lead to catastrophic and life-threatening weather events.
UN members must submit their latest Nationally Determined Contributions before the COP30 summit in Brazil next year. NDCs set out each country’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One part of the NDCs is to reach the goal set by the Paris Agreement to reduce global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and the other part aims to keep the global temperature rise to within the less desirable 2 degrees Celsius. Although the report says it is technically possible to reach the Paris Agreement goal, major steps will be needed to reduce carbon emissions by the required amount.
“Increased deployment of solar photovoltaic technology and wind power could bring 27 percent of total emissions reduction potential by 2030 and 38 percent by 2035,” the report provides as an example of what is still needed. “Action in forests can bring about 20 percent of energy in both years.”
“Every degree averted is calculated in terms of lives saved, economies protected, damage avoided, biodiversity and the ability to quickly reduce any increase in temperature,” said UN Environment Program Executive Director Inger Andersen in a foreword to the report.
International cooperation, government commitment and financial contributions will also be important to get back on track to the 2-degree or 1.5-degree goals. “The G20 countries, especially the members that emit the most carbon dioxide, will have to do a lot of work,” the report said.
If this all sounds familiar, that’s probably because the UN has issued the same dire warnings in each of its annual reports on gas emissions recently. And other reports echo their calls, such as earlier this year 57 companies are responsible for 80 percent of global carbon emissions.
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