Crunch time for climate says UN as a massive global mobilisation of renewable energy, forest protection and other measures is needed to prevent the world reaching a catastrophic temperature rise of 3.1C, a report from the UN environment programme (Unep) has found. It says that current carbon-cutting promises by countries for 2030 are not being met, and even if they were, the temperature increase would only be limited to a still-disastrous 2.6C to 2.8C. It is urgent that nations act to avoid a catastrophic future report said, urging nations to act at the November meeting of COP 29 in Azerbaijan, a nation The Guardian reports is expected to rapidly expand its fossil gas production in the next decade.
The Emissions Gap report looks at how much nations must promise to cut off greenhouse gases, and deliver, in the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), due for submission in early 2025 ahead of COP30. Cuts of 42 per cent are needed by 2030 and 57 per cent by 2035 to get on track for 1.5°C.
A failure to increase ambition in these new NDCs and start delivering immediately means that we are at a crunch time for the climate as it would put the world on course for a temperature increase of 2.6-3.1°C over the course of this century. This would bring debilitating impacts to people, planet and economies.
It remains technically possible to get on a 1.5°C tract, with solar, wind and forests holding real promise for sweeping and fast emissions cuts. To deliver on this potential, sufficiently strong NDCs would need to be backed urgently by a whole-of-government approach, measures that maximize socioeconomic and environmental co-benefits, enhanced
international collaboration that includes reform of the global financial architecture, strong private sector action and a minimum six-fold increase in mitigation investment.
G20 nations, particularly the largest-emitting members, would need to do the heavy lifting. “The emissions gap is not an abstract notion,” said António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, in a video message on the report. “There is a direct link between increasing emissions and increasingly frequent and intense climate disasters. Around the world, people are paying a terrible price. Record emissions mean record sea temperatures supercharging monster hurricanes; record heat is turning forests into tinder boxes and cities into saunas; record rains are resulting in biblical floods. “Today’s Emissions Gap report is clear: we’re playing with fire; but there can be no more playing for time. We’re out of time. Closing the emissions gap means closing the ambition gap, the implementation gap, and the finance gap. Starting at COP29.”
You can find out about ACE’s work in reducing our local emissions with the setting up of Settle Local Energy Club.