Since last year’s COP26 summit in Glasgow, governments worldwide have made far too little progress in taking action to mitigate climate change. That is what the United Nations environmental agency, Unep, said on Thursday annual Emissions Gap-report. The report states that the measures taken in Glasgow together lead to less than 1 percent additional reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. With the current measures, the world will reach an average warming of about 2.8 degrees by the end of this century.
The goals of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement to limit global warming to 2 degrees, or better yet 1.5 degrees, are becoming obsolete. To achieve this, greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 45 percent (for 1.5 degrees) or 30 percent (for 2 degrees) by 2030. If the agreements made in Glasgow – for example on reducing coal use and combating deforestation – are really implemented and countries commit to neutralizing CO₂ emissions, global warming could still be up to 1 at the end of the century. ,8 degrees remain limited. “That scenario is not credible now,” UNEP director Inger Andersen said in the report.
Also read: Glasgow Climate Agreement: not nothing, but not nearly enough
Every fraction of a degree matters
According to Andersen, a major transformation is needed in the next eight years. That is “a difficult task”, but, “we must try anyway”. Every fraction of a degree matters, Andersen reiterates: “for vulnerable communities, for animals and plants, for ecosystems and for each of us”. It invites countries to use the solutions suggested in the report so that the opportunity to use more ‘clean energy’ in response to the energy crisis is ‘not missed’.
Unep advocates a large-scale transformation of economies and societies. The electricity supply, industry, transport and food and financial systems must become more sustainable to help prevent a climate disaster, the agency said. UN Secretary-General António Guterres also responded to the report. In a video message he advocates investing in renewable energy. He believes this is a “win-win-win situation for climate action”, creating energy security, affordable access to electricity and new jobs.
The twenty-seventh United Nations climate summit (COP27) will be held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, from 6 to 18 November. Government leaders and other stakeholders will then meet in the seaside resort on the Red Sea to discuss matters such as limiting global warming, the energy transition and food security.
Also read: These are the strong and weak passages of the Glasgow Accord