UN warns of 3°c warming, urgent action needed
Unless further measures are taken, the Earth will warm by more than three degrees Celsius by the end of this century.
This warning comes from the United Nations Organization, which has published a report on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. The report shows that global temperatures are rising twice as fast as the level approved 10 years ago in the Paris Agreement, leading to natural disasters and billions of euros in losses annually.
The annual "Emissions Gap" report has found that the world will experience warming of up to 3°C above pre-industrial levels in the coming decades unless governments take more drastic action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This figure is double the 1.5°C limit that countries agreed to in Paris nearly a decade ago.
"The report's data is sufficiently clear. We are walking a very precarious planetary tightrope," said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. "The emissions gap is not just an abstract concept. There is a direct link between increasing emissions and the increasingly frequent and intense climate disasters. People worldwide are paying a terrible price for this. This means record temperatures, which are destroying regions and forests."
The UN report indicates that authorities in different countries must collectively commit to and implement a 42% reduction in annual greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and reach 57% by 2035 to prevent warming exceeding 1.5°C - a goal currently considered likely impossible to achieve. This limit of 1.5 degrees was set in 2015 by the Paris Agreement. At the annual UN climate summit, which will take place next month in Azerbaijan, countries around the world will try to find a compromise on actions to phase out fossil fuels. High-level negotiations will help to lay the groundwork for emissions reduction strategies for each country.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
