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By Usman Aliyu
The latest Emissions Gap Report from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has called for more actions and commitment towards carbon reduction.
The report, released on Monday in Nairobi, Kenya, says the 2030 carbon emissions must fall by 28 per cent to 42 per cent for a pathway to 2°C and 1.5°C global temperature to be achieved.
It said nations must go further than current Paris pledges or face global warming of 2.5-2.9°C
The document said that relentless mitigation and low-carbon transformations were essential to narrow emissions gap.
According to the report, CoP28 and Global Stocktake offer a chance to build greater ambition for the next round of climate pledges.
It regretted that as global temperatures and greenhouse emissions broke records, it found that current pledges under the Paris Agreement put the world on track for a 2.5-2.9°C temperature rise above pre-industrial levels in the present century.
This, the report said, pointed to the urgent need for increased climate action.
Released ahead of the 2023 climate summit in Dubai, UAE, the Emissions Gap Report 2023 said global temperatures had hit new highs; yet, the world failed to cut emissions.
Meanwhile, Antònio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, said it was still possible to make the 1.5 degree limit but demanded a just and equitable renewables transition.
“We know it is still possible to make the 1.5 degree limit a reality.
“It requires tearing out the poisoned root of the climate crisis- fossil fuels; and it demands a just, equitable renewables transition,” he said.
More so, Inger Anderson, Executive Director, UNEP, sought an end to unnecessary records on carbon emissions.
“There is no person or economy left on the planet untouched by climate change; so, we need to stop setting unwanted records on greenhouse gas emissions, global temperature highs and extreme weather.
“We must instead lift the needle out of the same old groove of insufficient ambition and not enough action and start setting other records on cutting emissions, on green and just transitions and on climate finance,” Andersen said.
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