‘We have to get on the case now’

Pledges made under the Paris Agreement are only a third of what is required by 2030 to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. This highlights the urgent needed to boost efforts by both government and non-government actors, the United Nations environment wing said on Tuesday (31 October).

‘One year after the Paris Agreement entered into force, we still find ourselves in a situation where we are not doing nearly enough to save hundreds of millions of people from a miserable future.’

ERIK SOLHEIM
UN Environment Programme (UNEP) executive director

3°C rise ‘very likely’

The Paris accord, adopted in 2015 by 195 countries, seeks to limit global warming in this century to under 2°C above the pre-industrial level.

The eighth edition of UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report, released ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, warns that as things stand, even full implementation of current national pledges makes a temperature rise of at least 3°C by 2100 very likely.

Should the United States follow through with its stated intention to leave the Paris accord in 2020, the picture could become even bleaker.

Peak carbon?

The pace of growth in carbon dioxide emissions has slowed, driven in part by renewable energy – notably in China and India. This has raised hopes that emissions have peaked, as they must by 2020 if we’re to remain on a successful climate trajectory.

To avoid overshooting the Paris goals, governments, the private sector, cities and others need to urgently pursue actions that will bring deeper and more rapid cuts.

‘If we invest in the right technologies, ensuring that the private sector is involved, we can still meet the promise we made to our children to protect their future. But we have to get on the case now.’

ERIK SOLHEIM
UN Environment Programme (UNEP) executive director