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Factory chimney in Finland (archive image)
Photo: OLIVIER MORIN / AFP
A few days before the UN climate conference in Glasgow, the United Nations is warning its member states: The plans for CO2 reduction presented so far are insufficient to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.
"We're not even close to where science says we should be," said the head of the UN climate secretariat, Patricia Espinosa.
Taken together, the plans submitted by all 192 participating states would result in an increase in global greenhouse gas emissions of around 16 percent by 2030 compared to 2010. According to experts, a global temperature increase of 2.7 degrees is foreseeable by the end of this century.
In Paris in 2015, more than 190 countries agreed on the goal of limiting global warming to well below two degrees, if possible to 1.5 degrees, compared to the pre-industrial era.
According to the United Nations, emissions would have to be reduced by 45 percent compared to 2010 in order to achieve the target.
"Destabilized World" and "Endless Suffering"
Although numerous countries have renewed or improved their plans since a report in September, the trend is still going in the same direction, said Espinosa.
She called on all governments to significantly increase their efforts.
"Missing the temperature targets will lead to a destabilized world and endless suffering, especially among those who have contributed the least to greenhouse gas emissions in the earth's atmosphere," said the head of the UN climate secretariat.
In fact, people in poor countries are the least likely to contribute to climate change, but often suffer the most from the effects of global warming.
In order to pay for the restructuring of the economy and adaptation measures in these states, rich countries are to provide 100 billion dollars (86 billion euros) annually - actually since 2020.
This sum will apparently only come together in two years.
“We won't be at this goal in 2022 yet.
But in 2023 we will achieve or even exceed this target, ”said Secretary of State for the Environment Jochen Flasbarth on Monday at a joint event with representatives from Canada and Great Britain.
CO2 peak in the atmosphere
According to a new report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), there has never been as much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as last year since the beginning of industrialization.The increase compared to the previous year was even higher than the average increase over the past ten years it in a new report.
The climate conference called COP26 starts next Sunday in Scotland.
At the conference, around 200 countries want to negotiate how the goal formulated in Paris in 2015 of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees as far as possible compared to pre-industrial times can be achieved.
The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as host had recently expressed skepticism about the expectations of the meeting.
fww / dpa
