The UN warns that countries must triple their efforts to comply with the Paris Agreement | Society
The UN Environment Department has warned on Tuesday that countries should triple their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 if you want the average temperature increase at the end of the century to stay below 2 degrees Celsius. If the aim is that the increase in temperature does not exceed 1.5 degrees, the effort must be multiplied by five. Staying at an average increase between 1.5 and 2 degrees is the goal established in the Paris Agreement to avoid catastrophic consequences associated with warming.
This pact in Paris, which will begin to be applied after 2020, obliges the countries that ratify it to submit national plans for the reduction of greenhouse gases by 2030. The UN performs a report on the gap annually between the reductions committed by the States and the reductions necessary to meet the goal of 1.5 and 2 degrees. And reaching those goals is moving away more and more. "Now more than ever, an unprecedented and urgent action by all nations is necessary," said the report presented on Wednesday.
"Technically, it is still possible to close the gap," says the UNEP document, the UN environmental department. But you need efforts that are not even on the table. The IPCC, the group of scientists who are responsible for radiographing climate change for the UN, warned of this in October. that urged countries to take drastic measures by 2030.
However, the UN reminds that the current emission reduction commitments will lead to the increase in temperature by 3 degrees in 2100. The report recalls that, after three years of stagnation, in 2017 Greenhouse gas emissions increased again.
These emissions (which come mainly from the energy sector) reached their record in 2017. And the report highlights as negative that there are no signs that they have reached their ceiling. "The total annual greenhouse gases (...) reached a record of 53.5 gigatons of COtwo equivalent in 2017, an increase of 0.7 gigatons compared to 2016, "the report notes, and warns that global emissions in 2030 should be approximately 25% lower if the goal of 2 degrees is to be met. to stay below 1.5 degrees, they should be 55% lower.
"The window of opportunity for action begins to close and if we do not act now, the opportunity will have disappeared," lamented through a statement, Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace International. "This is the greatest threat that humanity has faced," he warned.
