Climate change: ‘Leadership gap’ undermines efforts to curb warming, UN chief says

By Frank Jordans | Associated Press

BERLIN — The caput of the United Nations says a “leadership gap” is undermining the world’s efforts to curb planetary warming, days earlier presidents and premier ministers from astir the globe stitchery for a clime acme successful Glasgow, Scotland.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters Tuesday that clip is moving retired to chopped greenhouse state emissions and conscionable the goals of the 2015 Paris accord to avert planetary warming that helium said could go “an existential menace to humanity.”

“The timepiece is ticking,” helium said successful New York astatine the presumption of a U.N. study highlighting the quality betwixt what scientists accidental is needed and what countries are doing to trim the magnitude of greenhouse state being pumped into the atmosphere. “This is simply a infinitesimal of truth.”

“The emissions spread is the effect of a enactment gap,” Guterres said. “But leaders tin inactive marque this a turning constituent to a greener aboriginal alternatively of a tipping constituent to clime catastrophe. “

The caller study by the U.N. Environment Programme recovered caller pledges by governments to chopped emissions are raising hopes but aren’t strict capable to support planetary warming from exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) by the extremity of the century.

It concluded that caller announcements by dozens of countries to purpose for “net-zero” emissions by 2050 could, if afloat implemented, bounds a planetary somesthesia emergence to 2.2 degrees Celsius (4 F). That’s person but inactive supra the little stringent people agreed upon successful the Paris clime accord of capping planetary warming astatine 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) compared to pre-industrial times.

“Every ton of c dioxide emissions adds to planetary warming,” French clime idiosyncratic Valerie Masson-Delmotte, who co-chaired an August U.N. clime subject report, told the United Nations connected Tuesday. “The clime we acquisition successful the aboriginal depends connected our decisions now.”

The European Union, the United States and dozens of different countries person acceptable net-zero emissions targets. However, the UNEP study said the net-zero goals that galore governments announced up of a U.N. clime acme successful Glasgow adjacent week stay vague, with overmuch of the dense lifting connected emissions cuts pushed beyond 2030.

Guterres said scientists were wide connected the facts of clime change, adding that “now, leaders request to beryllium conscionable arsenic wide successful their actions.”

“They request to travel to Glasgow with bold, time-bound, front-loaded plans to scope nett zero,” helium said.

Guterres made a nonstop plea to China, the apical c polluter, to marque carbon-cutting efforts spell faster than antecedently projected due to the fact that “that would person an power connected respective different countries.” China hasn’t updated its required emissions chopped pledge.

The study came retired arsenic the U.N. General Assembly focused connected clime alteration successful a marathon league of speeches Tuesday. The presidents of susceptible land nations Palau and the Maldives utilized the accidental to plea for the satellite to bash much due to the fact that their countries are astatine hazard of being wiped out.

“Our homes, our bluish economy, our heath and our wide well-being person been ravaged by the clime crisis,” Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. told the General Assembly. “We indispensable instrumentality extremist enactment now.”

“The destiny of tiny islands contiguous is the destiny of the satellite tomorrow,” Maldives President Ibrahim Solih said.

Australia became the latest state to denote a net-zero people connected Tuesday, but experts swiftly pointed retired that it doesn’t stack up.

The U.N. Environment Programme is 1 of respective agencies to analyse the spread betwixt authorities pledges and the Paris goals. Its enforcement manager echoed the request for velocity connected curbing emissions.

“To basal a accidental of limiting planetary warming to 1.5 C, we person 8 years to astir halve greenhouse state emissions,” said Inger Andersen. “Eight years to marque the plans, enactment successful spot the policies, instrumentality them and yet present the cuts.”

Leaders, diplomats, scientists and biology activists volition conscionable successful Glasgow from Oct. 31-Nov. 12 to sermon however countries and businesses tin set their targets to avert the much e

Smoke rises from the cooling towers of the Bugey atomic works of Saint-Vulbas, astir Lyon, cardinal France, aboriginal Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021. A caller UN study says that astir countries person missed the accidental to usage COVID-19 betterment spending to stimulate the system portion backing clime action.

xtreme clime alteration scenarios that would effect successful a important sea-level rise, much predominant chaotic upwind and much droughts.

Guterres said helium would usage a travel to the Group of 20 gathering successful Italy to property each countries, including large emerging economies specified arsenic China, to bash much connected clime change.

“If determination is nary meaningful simplification of emissions successful the adjacent decade, we volition person mislaid everlastingly the anticipation of reaching 1.5 degrees,” helium said.

Guterres said past clime summits had acknowledged that portion each countries person to curb emissions, immoderate are much capable to bash truthful than others, with enactment coming from the richest and astir developed.

“But the level of emissions of the emerging economies is specified that we besides request the emerging economies to spell an other mile,” helium said. “Only if everybody does the maximum, it volition beryllium imaginable to get there.”

The UNEP study emphasized respective measures that tin assistance boost efforts to curb planetary warming, including clamping down connected emissions of the potent but short-lived greenhouse state methane. It besides emphasized the request to guarantee pandemic betterment funds are spent connected environmentally affable measures.

The study recovered that astir countries person missed the accidental to usage COVID-19 betterment spending to stimulate the system portion backing clime action.

“Despite these alarm bells ringing astatine fever pitch, we spot caller grounds contiguous successful the (UNEP) Emissions Gap Report that governments’ actions truthful acold simply bash not adhd up to what is truthful desperately needed,” Guterres told diplomats aboriginal Tuesday.

Associated Press writer Seth Borenstein contributed to this report.