UNEP chief warns of accelerating global warming
Two weeks before the COP 28 world climate conference, the head of the UN Environment Program (UNEP), Inger Andersen, has warned of dramatic temperature increases. "Humanity is breaking all the wrong records when it comes to climate change," Andersen stated in her foreword to a UNEP report published in Nairobi on Monday on the so-called emissions gaps in global climate protection. Greater efforts are urgently needed.
Greenhouse emissions would have reached a new record in 2022. According to the UNEP chief, global temperatures in September of this year were on average 1.8 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. It is almost certain that 2023 will be the warmest year on record.
Stronger measures needed
The pledges made so far under the Paris Climate Agreement are therefore not enough. Even if they are kept, the world is heading for a temperature rise of between 2.5 and 2.9 degrees Celsius this century compared to pre-industrial times.
The possibility of achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement after all depends largely on increased climate adaptation measures before the end of this decade, emphasized the UNEP chief. The emissions forecast for 2030 would have to be reduced by at least 28 to 42 percent compared to the currently planned scenarios in order to achieve the agreed targets for global warming of 2 and 1.5 degrees respectively. According to the UN report, global greenhouse gas emissions rose by 1.2 percent between 2021 and 2022 to a new record level of 57.4 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
In the Paris Climate Agreement concluded in 2015, the international community agreed the 1.5 degree target for global warming in order to avoid exceeding dangerous tipping points with irreversible consequences and to avert the most catastrophic consequences of climate change. To this end, only a limited amount of climate-damaging greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) may be released into the earth's atmosphere. Most of these are released when oil, natural gas and coal are burned. However, experts believe that the measures planned by countries to date are far from ambitious enough.
The UN, led by UNEP chief Inger Andersen, has called for increased action to address climate change, as the Paris Agreement pledges are deemed insufficient. According to Andersen, achieving the Paris Agreement's goals hinges on enhanced climate adaptation measures before 2030, requiring a significant reduction in the 2030 emissions forecast.
Source: www.dpa.com
