According to a bleak new UN assessment, there is “no credible pathway” to keep global temperature rise below the critical 1.5C threshold.
Scientists believe that exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius would have disastrous consequences for people all over the world.
According to the report, governments’ carbon-cutting plans have been “woefully inadequate” since COP26 last year.
According to the study, only a rapid transformation of society will prevent disaster.
- What will be discussed at the Egypt climate summit?
- Climate change is endangering global health, according to a new report.
The next major climate conference, known as COP27, begins in Egypt in just over a week.
Given that the world’s attention has shifted elsewhere since climate diplomats met in Glasgow last year, this week has seen a flurry of reports emphasizing that climate change isn’t going away.
In response to questions from BBC viewers and listeners this week, UN Secretary General António Guterres stated that the world must refocus on climate change or face disaster.
The BBC’s climate editor Justin Rowlatt talked to UN chief António Guterres in New York
The UN emissions gap study, which was released today, reflects this gloomy mood among scientists and diplomats.
The report, now in its thirteenth year, examines the gap between rhetoric and reality.
It concludes that the 1.5C limit is now in grave danger.
According to this analysis, new carbon-cutting efforts would reduce global emissions by less than 1% by 2030, when scientists estimate that reductions of 45% are required to keep 1.5 degrees Celsius in play.
When it comes to the impact on temperatures, the study concludes that with current policies in place, the world will warm by about 2.8 degrees Celsius this century.
Drought in California has seen water levels in lakes and reservoirs decline
If countries receive financial assistance and implement their plans, this can be kept to 2.4 degrees Celsius.
“We had our chance to make incremental changes, but that time has passed,” said UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen, who led the study.
“Only a complete transformation of our economies and societies can save us from accelerating climate disaster,” she stated.
The UN admits that achieving massive emissions reductions is now a tall order. However, it identifies electricity, industry, transportation, and buildings as areas where rapid transitions away from fossil fuels are possible.
“We have to bring climate change with us wherever we go,” Ms Anderson said.
“Into the classrooms, boardrooms, voting booths, and around the dinner table. We cannot ignore climate change.””
Other studies published this week show that governments are failing to prepare for the effects of higher temperatures, in addition to highlighting the slow pace of progress in addressing the causes of warming.
In the United Kingdom, a committee of MPs and peers has called on the government to “get a grip” on the threat that climate change poses to critical infrastructure.
Firefighters battle blazes in the Amazon
The Joint Committee on National Security Strategy report cites examples of severe weather disrupting transportation and communications.
Three people were killed in a train derailment in Scotland after heavy rain in August 2020, and nearly 1 million people lost power during Storm Arwen in November 2021.
“What I find most disturbing is the lack of evidence that anyone in government is focusing on how all the impacts can come together, creating cascading crises,” said Dame Margaret Beckett MP, chair of the Joint Committee.
“There simply aren’t any ministers who are solely responsible for ensuring that our infrastructure is resilient to extreme weather and other effects of climate change.””
While almost all of the reports released this week highlight the lack of progress on climate change, there are some bright spots among the gloom.
According to the State of Climate Action study, a transition to sustainable travel is well underway in transportation. In 2021, battery electric or fuel cell electric engines will power nearly half of all buses sold worldwide.
Electric buses are now almost half of all new sales globally
Electric vehicle sales have more than doubled from the previous year, accounting for nearly 9% of new car sales.
This optimistic tone is echoed in the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook, which was also released today.
It contends that the energy crisis caused by Ukraine’s war is causing changes that have the potential to accelerate the transition to a more secure and sustainable energy system.
The report also finds that a slew of new policies in countries such as the United States, Japan, Korea, and the European Union will likely result in clean energy investments of around $2 trillion by 2030, a more than 50% increase from today.
