UN: World ‘close’ to meeting emissions targets | UN WGN Radio 720

BERLIN (AP) — Current pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions are pushing the planet beyond the limits of countries with global warming agreed in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, the United Nations says. says.

The United Nations Climate Change Secretariat said Wednesday that the latest estimates, based on 193 national emissions targets, will see temperatures rise to 2.5 degrees Celsius (4.5 degrees Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial average by the end of the century.

This is one degree higher than the ambitious target set in the Paris Agreement to limit warming by 1.5 C (2.7 F).

Emissions will also increase by 10.6% from 2010 levels to 2030, a slight decrease from last year’s estimate of 13.7%, according to the report.

Scientists say emissions of the gases that heat the planet should actually be cut by 45% by the end of the decade.

“We still fall short of the magnitude and pace of emission reductions needed to put the world on track to 1.5 degrees Celsius,” Simon Steele, head of the United Nations Office for Climate Change, said in a statement. “To sustain this goal, governments need to step up their climate action plans now and implement them over the next eight years.”

The report, released ahead of the United Nations climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, next month, sees countries raise their targets again.

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