Countries urgently need to ramp up emissions cuts to meet climate targets
The world is way behind on its commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions — and nations need to act immediately if they want to stave off the worst effects of climate change, an international study finds. Humans must reduce emissions by 2.7 percent each year from 2020 to 2030 just to achieve the goal set by the 2015 Paris Agreement of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial times by 2100. That’s the conclusion of the 2019 emissions gap report released by the U.N. Environment Programme, or UNEP, on November 26. The report, the 10th such annual report released by the UNEP, analyzes the gap between global greenhouse gas emissions and how much the world needs to reduce those emissions to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. To limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius — a more stringent goal but one that studies show would result in fewer life-threatening climate extremes, less sea level rise and fewer species lost...