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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/oct/24/crunch-time-for-real-un-says-time-for-climate-delays-has-run-out>
"The huge cuts in carbon emissions now needed to end the climate crisis mean it
is “crunch time for real”, according to the UN’s environment chief.
An unprecedented global mobilisation of renewable energy, forest protection and
other measures is needed to steer the world off the current path towards a
catastrophic temperature rise of 3.1C, a report from the UN environment
programme (Unep) has found. Extreme heatwaves, storms, droughts and floods are
already ravaging communities with less than 1.5C of global heating to date.
Current carbon-cutting promises by countries for 2030 are not being met,
according to the report, and even if they were met, the temperature rise would
only be limited to a still-disastrous 2.6C to 2.8C. There is no more time for
“hot air”, the report said, urging nations to act at the Cop29 summit in
November.
Keeping the international goal of 1.5C within reach was technically possible,
said the report, but it required emissions to fall by 7.5% annually until 2035.
That means halting emissions equivalent to those of the EU every year for a
decade. Delaying emissions cuts only means steeper reductions would be needed
in future.
Unep said countries must collectively commit to cut 42% off annual greenhouse
gas emissions by 2030 and 57% by 2035 in their next UN pledges, called
nationally determined contributions and due in February. Without these pledges,
and rapid action to back them up, the 1.5C goal would be gone, the UN said.
However, the head of Unep, Inger Andersen, said it was misguided to fixate only
on whether the 1.5C target was kept or not, because every fraction of a degree
of global heating avoided would save lives, damage and costs: “Don’t over-focus
on a magic number. Keeping temperature as low as possible is where we need to
be.”
The finance and technology to slash emissions exists, Andersen said, but
“political courage” was needed, particularly from the G20 nations (excluding
the African Union) that cause 77% of global emissions.
Andersen said the world’s nations made strong climate promises at the Paris
summit in 2015. “Now is the time to live up to that – it’s climate crunch time
for real. We need global mobilisation on a scale and pace never seen before,
starting right now, or the 1.5C goal will soon be dead and the ‘well below 2C’
target will take its place in the intensive care unit.”
Unep’s last two annual reports highlighted “the closing window” for action and
the “broken record” of failed promises. “Now we’re saying, this is it,” she
said.
“The irritating thing is technology is there for the grasping, as are the job
and economic development opportunities,” Andersen said. “It just takes
political courage and some strong leadership.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
