The signatory states to the Paris Climate Agreement are well below expectations when it comes to updating their climate plans.
General Secretary Guterres is concerned.
New York City - With one of his first official acts, the newly elected US President Joe Biden led the US back into the Paris Climate Agreement * and at least temporarily caused joy among environmentalists and climate activists *.
Even if the re-entry of the USA into the agreement was an important step, the current situation regarding the measures against global warming looks anything but rosy.
Paris climate agreement: disappointing developments - Guterres speaks of "red alert"
As the United Nations announced on Friday, the updated climate plans of the contracting states fell far short of expectations.
"Today's interim report by the UN Climate Change Secretariat is a red alert
for our planet," warned UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
The Paris Agreement provides that the nations adjust their plans upwards every few years to counter the advancing global warming.
This measure is intended to help achieve the central goal of the agreement: to limit global warming to "well below" two degrees Celsius.
However, by the deadline of December 31, 2020, only 75 countries had submitted updated climate plans.
These are only responsible for 30 percent of global greenhouse gases.
While some of these 75 countries - including the EU countries, Great Britain and Norway - have set themselves ambitious goals, other states practically did not adjust the goals they set in 2015.
Brazil under President Jair Bolsonaro * actually corrected its targets downwards compared to 2015.
UN worried about climate forecasts - CO2 emissions hardly reduced by 2030
The calculations based on the updated climate plans result in a sobering forecast.
In terms of harmful CO2 emissions, there would only be a reduction of one percent by 2030.
In order to meet the two-degree target, however, a reduction of 25 percent would be necessary.
The updated climate plans of the two countries with the highest CO2 emissions - China and the USA - are expected in the coming weeks.
Commenting on the report's disappointing results, Patricia Espinosa, Secretary General of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, said: "At the moment, it's like walking blind into a minefield."
Paris Climate Agreement: Climate Secretary General Espinosa appeals to the signatory states
However, the Mexican also emphasized that the report was only a snapshot.
The corona pandemic also made it difficult to submit the revised climate plans, which is why there should be another report at the next climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, in November.
Until then, it is important that all remaining countries adjust their climate targets, Espinosa demands.
(fd / dpa) * merkur.de is part of the Ippen-Digital editors network.
