UN calls for action to implement climate goals

By Ebru Sengul

ANKARA (AA) - Governments and non-state actors need to deliver an urgent ambitious drive to ensure the Paris Agreement goals can still be met, according to a UN Environment Program statement on Tuesday.

The 8th edition of UN Environment’s Emissions Gap report found that national pledges are only achieving a third of emissions reduction to meet climate targets by 2030 with private sector and sub-national action not increasing at a rate that would help close this worrying gap, the report showed.

The Paris Agreement looks to limit global warming to under 2 degrees Celsius, with a more ambitious goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius also on the table.

The report found that current Paris pledges make 2030 emissions likely to reach 11 to 13.5 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2eq) above the level needed to stay on the least-cost path to meeting the 2 degrees Celsius target.

"Meeting these targets would reduce the likelihood of severe climate impacts that could damage human health, livelihoods and economies across the globe," the UN noted, adding that, however, even the entire implementation of current unconditional and conditional Nationally Determined Contributions makes a temperature increase of at least 3 degrees Celsius by 2100 very likely.

Governments need to deliver much stronger pledges when they are revised in 2020, the UN asserted, warning that should the U.S. follow through with its stated intention to leave the Paris Agreement in 2020, the picture could become even bleaker.

-Technology is key

Investing in technology is key to success to avoid overshooting the Paris goals. The UN declared that governments, including those that update their Paris pledges, the private sector, cities and others need to urgently pursue actions that will bring deeper and more-rapid cuts.

The report lays out ways to do so, particularly in agriculture, buildings, energy, forestry, industry and transport.

"Technology investments in these sectors – at an investment cost of under $100 per tonne of CO2 avoided, often much lower – could save up to 36 gigatonnes of GtCO2eq per year by 2030," it explained.

Much of the potential across the sectors comes from investment in a few areas: solar and wind energy, efficient appliances, efficient passenger cars, afforestation and stopping deforestation, it said, underlining that focusing only on recommended actions in these areas – which have modest or net-negative costs – could cut up to 22 GtCO2eq by 2030.

These savings alone would put the world "well on track" to hit the 2 degrees Celsius target and unlock the possibility of reaching the aspirational 1.5 degrees Celsius target, the UN asserted.