Earth’s temperatures will fall past a major danger point if greenhouse gas emissions do not decrease faster than countries have committed themselves to, the largest global warming organization said on Monday, warning of the consequences of inaction but noting hopeful signs of progress.
Gen. Antonio Guterres said the U.N. ‘s Panel on Climate Change report reveals a litany of broken climate promises by governments and businesses accusing them of fueling global warming by holding on to harmful fossil fuels.
Under the 2015 Paris accord, governments agreed to limit global warming to just under 2 degrees Celsius this century, preferably no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.
In other words, according to James Skea, co-chair of the report at Imperial College London,”If we continue acting as we are now, we’re not even going to limit warming to 2 degrees, never mind 1.5 degrees.”
In order to keep the 1.5 ° C limit agreed in Paris within reach,”To keep the 1.5-degree limit agreed in Paris within reach, we need to cut global emissions by 45% this decade,” said Guterres, the UN chief.
Many experts say that this is not possible with the existing technologies, and even if it were possible, it would be much more expensive than preventing the emissions altogether.
Last August it declared man-made climate change “a fact,” warning that some effects of global warming were already inevitable.
