UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned today that despite the “deterioration” of the situation, major economies are still letting their greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise. they increase.
The goal of reducing the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial times, the most ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement, is “intensive”, he said at a conference on sustainable development organized by The Economist magazine. in London.
According to the UN, emissions should be reduced by 45% by 2030 in order to hope for a reduction in temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. But emissions continue to rise and temperatures have risen by an average of about 1.1 degrees compared to the pre-industrial era, resulting in multiplied heat waves, droughts, storms or catastrophic floods.
“The problem is getting worse,” Antonio Guterres said in a pre-recorded video message, noting that by 2020, climate disasters had already “evicted 30 million people – three times as many as those displaced by the conflict.”
“We are walking with our eyes closed to climate change” and “if we continue like this, we can say goodbye to the target of +1.5 degrees Celsius. That of 2 degrees Celsius could also be impossible.”
But even if countries honor their commitments in Paris, emissions are expected to rise by 14% before the end of the decade, leading to a “catastrophic” overheating of 2.7 degrees Celsius, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Change (Giec-IPCC) of the United Nations.
Criticizing some kind of “naive optimism” after the end of COP26 in Glasgow last fall, the UN chief called the persistent dependence on fossil fuels “madness”.
“This fossil fuel addiction is leading us to a collective catastrophe,” he said, just hours before a two-week session to validate a historic Giec report on scenarios that could reduce overheating.
This report is expected to conclude that carbon dioxide emissions will reach a peak in a few years if the targets for temperature increase set in Paris are met.
Russia’s incursion into Ukraine, Guterres added, could further derail climate action as many countries embark on a frantic search for new gas and oil supplies to replace Russian imports, thus boosting dependence. from fossil fuels.
Last year, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released a report on a bomb that concluded that a 1.5 degree Celsius rise in temperature was incompatible with any new oil or gas exploration or new coal-fired power plant.
Breaking with the common practice of not naming a country in particular, Guterres blamed Australia and a “handful of unruly” states for failing to submit “significant” short-term plans to reduce emissions.
China and India, both of which are highly dependent on coal, have refused to fully meet the 1.5-degree Celsius target and set more ambitious targets for reducing emissions in the short term.
“The good news,” he said, “is that all the G20 governments – including China, Japan and South Korea – have agreed not to finance coal abroad anymore.”
“They urgently need to do the same inside now,” said Antonio Guterres.
Rich countries need to provide the money, technology and know-how needed to help emerging economies cut back on carbon in their energy portfolios, he added, citing the innovative agreement reached with South Africa at COP26 in Glasgow.
SOURCE: AMPE
Source: Capital
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