Environment & Ecology
Context: Recently, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released ‘Emissions Gap Report 2022.
- This is the 13th edition of the Report.
- Title: ‘The Closing Window — Climate Crisis Calls for Rapid Transformation of Societies’
- An overview of the difference between where greenhouse emissions are predicted to be in 2030 and where they should be to avert the worst impacts of climate change.
Key Findings:
- The world is falling short of the goals set forth in the Paris Climate Agreement adopted in 2015.
- No credible pathway is currently in place to restrict global warming to under 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
- The top seven emitters (China, the EU27, India, Indonesia, Brazil, the Russian Federation and the United States of America) plus international transport accounted for 55 percent of global GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions in 2020.
- In India and six other top emitters, emissions have rebounded in 2021, exceeding pre-pandemic 2019 levels.
- Collectively, G20 members are responsible for 75 percent of global GHG emissions.
- The global average per capita GHG emissions was 6.3 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e) in 2020.
- The report finds that the world must cut emissions by 45 percent to avoid global catastrophe.
Suggestions:
- The world needs to reduce greenhouse gasses by unprecedented levels over the next eight years.
- There is a need for alternative technologies in heavy industry, to reverse the rise in carbon intensity of global steel production.
- Urgent transformation is needed to deliver the enormous cuts needed to limit GHG emissions by 2030.
- To be on the most cost-effective path to limiting global warming to 2°C or 1.5°C, these percentages must reach 30% and 45%.
MUST READ: UNEP
Source: DownToEarth
