Current:Home > StocksWorld’s Emissions Gap Is Growing, with No Sign of Peaking Soon, UN Warns-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
World’s Emissions Gap Is Growing, with No Sign of Peaking Soon, UN Warns
View Date:2025-01-11 10:39:19
A new United Nations report lays bare the yawning gap between the sharp cuts in emissions required to meet the goals of the Paris climate accord and current projections, concluding that the window is closing to prevent the worst effects of damaging climate change.
The definitive annual assessment of global climate pledges found “no sign” that levels of emissions in the atmosphere would peak soon, despite the fact that meeting the Paris goals requires global emissions reductions of at least 2.7 percent each year for the next decade.
The Paris accord of 2015 aims to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6°F), with efforts to keep it below 1.5°C (2.7°F), in order to limit the worst impacts of climate change. Yet existing pledges are so inadequate that they correspond to about 3.2°C (5.8°F) of warming by the end of the century, the Emissions Gap Report published Tuesday said.
“We need to catch up on the years in which we procrastinated,” said Inger Andersen, executive director of the UN Environment Program. “If we do not do this, the 1.5°C goal will be out of reach before 2030.”
To be on track for 2°C of warming, the report said, emissions in 2030 would need to be 25 percent lower than today.
To limit warming to 1.5°C, emissions would need to be slashed by 55 percent. Last year, global carbon dioxide emissions rose 1.7 percent.
“Every year that action is delayed, emissions reductions need to be steeper,” said Joeri Rogelj, climate change lecturer at Imperial College London and an author of the report. This is the 10th year in a row that the UN has released an emissions gap report. “It is really the accumulation of bad news every year.”
Confirmation that rising emissions are putting existing global goals further out of reach came on the eve of the COP 25 climate summit that begins in Madrid on Monday.
The meeting will be the first big climate gathering since President Donald Trump began the process of withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement. Brazil’s president has also questioned the deal’s relevance.
New data from the World Meteorological Organization published on Monday showed that global average concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rose to 407.8 parts per million in 2018, up from 405.5 parts per million in 2017.
The increase is the result of man-made carbon dioxide emissions, primarily from burning fossil fuels. Another UN report last week showed that if the world’s top fossil fuel-producing nations follow through on their current plans, they will produce about 50 percent more oil, gas and coal by 2030 than would be compatible with the international goal of keeping global warming under 2°C, and two times more than would be allowable to stay under 1.5°C.
Greenhouse gas emissions have risen 1.5 percent each year on average over the past decade, despite a slight levelling off during 2014-16.
“There is no sign of a slowdown, let alone a decline, in greenhouse gases concentration in the atmosphere despite all the commitments under the Paris agreement,” said Petteri Taalas, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization.
“It is worth recalling that the last time the Earth experienced a comparable concentration of CO2 was 3 to 5 million years ago,” he added. “Back then, the temperature was 2 to 3°C warmer, and sea level was 10 to 20 meters higher than now.”
© The Financial Times Limited 2019. All Rights Reserved. Not to be further redistributed, copied or modified in any way.
veryGood! (7467)
Related
- US overdose deaths are down, giving experts hope for an enduring decline
- 'Another day in the (Smokies)': Bear dashes across Tennessee high school football field
- Social Security isn't enough for a comfortable retirement. What about these options?
- What happens when thousands of hackers try to break AI chatbots
- Georgia House Democrats shift toward new leaders after limited election gains
- Umpire Ángel Hernández loses again in racial discrimination lawsuit against MLB
- 3-year-old boy dies after falling into Utah lake, being struck by propeller
- Michael Oher's Adoptive Brother Sean Tuohy Jr. Denies Family Made Millions From The Blind Side
- Ex-Duke star Kyle Singler draws concern from basketball world over cryptic Instagram post
- ‘The Blind Side’ story of Michael Oher is forever tainted – whatever version you believe
Ranking
- How to protect your Social Security number from the Dark Web
- Testimony from Sam Bankman-Fried’s trusted inner circle will be used to convict him, prosecutors say
- Ex-San Jose State athletic trainer pleads guilty to sexually assaulting female athletes
- Billie Eilish remains friends with ex Jesse Rutherford of The Neighbourhood: 'My homie forever'
- Are Dancing with the Stars’ Jenn Tran and Sasha Farber Living Together? She Says…
- California teen's mother says body found in Los Gatos park is her missing child
- 'Reinventing Elvis' reveals why Presley nearly canceled his '68 Comeback Special live set
- Luke Bryan cancels his Mississippi concert: What we know about his illness
Recommendation
-
Can I take on 2 separate jobs in the same company? Ask HR
-
See the Surprising Below Deck Alum Causing Drama as Luke's Replacement on Down Under
-
University presidents elevate free speech under new partnership
-
Toronto Maple Leafs Prospect Rodion Amirov Dead at 21 After Brain Tumor Diagnosis
-
Today’s Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker and More React to Craig Melvin Replacing Hoda Kotb as Co-Anchor
-
Deja Taylor, Virginia mother whose 6 year old son shot teacher Abby Zwerner pleads guilty
-
New Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt Wedding Details Revealed By Celeb Guest 23 Years Later
-
Angelina Jolie Hires Teen Daughter Vivienne Jolie-Pitt as Her Assistant on Broadway