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UN report sounds alarm on climate pledge shortfalls

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A new report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) shows that new and updated climate commitments fall far short of the goals set out in the Paris Climate Change Agreement; with warnings of an impending climate catastrophe as a result.

UNEP’s Emission Gap Report 2021 titled “The Heat Is On” finds that Nationally Determined Contributions and other commitments only reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by a paltry 7.5% by 2030 compared to the previous round of commitments.

Reductions of 55% by 2030 are required to stay on course to prevent a temperature rise of above the benchmark 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels.

Just days ahead of the make-or-break UN Climate Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, the alarm bells are reaching a crescendo.

The UNEP report sends a clear message that the world needs to halve annual greenhouse gas emissions in the next eight years or else.

The report finds that were net-zero emission pledges implemented, it could limit warming to around 2.2 degrees Celsius, closer to the well-below 2 degrees goal set out in Paris.

Around 132 countries have publicly pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 while China and Saudi Arabia have pledged to reach the goal only ten years later in 2060.

The UN has pushed for the phasing out of coal by 2030 in OECD countries and by 2040 for all others.

The report cautions that net-zero plans remain vague and are not always reflected in the Nationally Determined Contributions.

The Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme Inger Anderson says countries know the time frames in which they need to act and have an acute understanding of the consequences of inaction.

And with developed countries falling short of the $100 billion a year goal starting in 2020 to help poorer countries adapt and mitigate, South Africa is leading a developing world charge to see that figure raised to around $750 billion annually by 2025 to undergird the transition.

The UN releases the 2021 Environment Programme report:

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