UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated on Monday that “it is possible to make the 1.5 degree limit a reality,” notwithstanding a recent climate change report showing the world would warm by almost 3C (5.4F).
Today’s Emissions Gap report shows that if nothing changes, in 2030, emissions will be 22 Gigatonnes higher than the 1.5 degree-limit will allow. That’s roughly the total present annual emissions of the USA, China and the EU combined.
At the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Emissions Gap Report launch, Guterres stated that current trends would lead the planet to a “dead-end three-degree temperature rise,” with the emissions gap being “more like an emissions canyon.”
The world could warm by as much as 2.9°C (5.2F) by the end of the century under current climate policies, according to the report.
“We know it is still possible to make the 1.5 degree limit a reality. It requires tearing out the poisoned root of the climate crisis: fossil fuels. And it demands a just, equitable renewables transition.”
The United Arab Emirates plans to hold the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) from November 30 to December 12 this year to maintain the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C (2.7F) warming target.
And I hope that governments will understand it and I hope that there will be a clear signal from this COP that we must head in that direction.
