The United Nations issued a wake-up call to world leaders for urgent climate action to be taken before its too late. If the emissions gap is not closed by 2030, it is extremely unlikely that the 2 C temperature goal can still be reached.
Despite national pledges to curb planet-warming emissions, the current pace of government action is “insufficient” to limit global warming to well below 2 C this century.
Countries like Bangladesh that have large rivers running into the ocean have already shown to be vulnerable, while large capitals like Miami already experienced the devastating results of climate change, during high tides.
Some say the warming of the planet is a natural process, however this does not change the consequences for human kind and wildlife we have to deal with.
A world that’s two degrees warmer could unleash devastating sea level rise, coral reefs die-offs, extreme weather and push hundreds of millions of people into climate risk and poverty.
Overall, nations must raise their climate action by three times in order to meet the 2 C threshold set by the 2015 Paris Agreement, and by five times in order to meet the 1.5 C warming target.
The ’emissions gap’ — the gulf between what countries are promising to do to curb emissions, and what’s actually needed to avoid dangerous warming — has actually gotten bigger in the latest.
The annual UN report comes a few days before the crucial UN climate talks in Katowice, Poland or COP-24, where representatives from roughly 200 countries will hammer out a “rulebook” on how to implement the failing Paris accord.
Eco Watch.com / Crickey Conservation Society 2018.
