On Thursday, the United Nations released a report predicting that the world will warm by more than 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century. This increase is more than double the amount that was agreed upon over ten years ago.
The world could heat up by up to 3.1 C (5.6 F) above pre-industrial levels by 2100 if governments do not do more to reduce emissions that are causing the planet to warm, according to the annual Emissions Gap report. This report compares the climate change initiatives of different countries with what is actually needed to combat the issue.
In 2015, governments joined the Paris Agreement and agreed to limit global warming to 1.5 C (2.7 F) in order to avert a series of catastrophic consequences.
“We’re teetering on a planetary tight rope,” stated Antonio Guterres, the United Nations Secretary General, on Thursday. “Either leaders bridge the emissions gap, or we plunge headlong into climate disaster” .
The study stated that between 2022 and 2023, the world’s emissions of greenhouse gases reached a new peak of 57.1 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, an increase of 1.3%.
The study concluded that by 2100, temperatures would have risen by 2.6 C (4.7 F) to 2.8 C (5 F) even with present promises to do something about it. The results of the previous three years are consistent with that.
“If we look at the progress towards 2030 targets, especially of the G20 member states… they have not made a lot of progress towards their current climate targets for 2030,” said Anne Olhoff, chief scientific editor of the report.
At present, a global warming of approximately 1.3 C (2.3 F) has occurred.
At next month’s COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan, world leaders will seek to expand upon a commitment to phase out fossil fuels that was announced last year.
Each nation’s revised plan to reduce emissions, called a Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), is due in February 2025; negotiations in Baku will guide these plans.
(Source: Reuters)
