Amsterdam, Netherlands – The latest UNEP Emissions Gap Report has warned that if countries do not commit to rapid action to cut rising climate pollution emissions, the Paris Agreement\u2019s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5\u00b0C will be gone within a few years. <\/p>\n\n
Tracy Carty, Climate Politics Expert at Greenpeace International, said: <\/p>\n\n
\u201cFor 15 years, the UNEP has been sounding the alarm on the great chasm between political will for climate action and the worsening emissions trajectory fuelling rising temperatures. These reports are an historical litany of negligence from the world\u2019s leaders to tackle the climate crisis with the urgency it demands, but it\u2019s not too late to take corrective action.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
\u201cThe UNEP has repeatedly warned current policies will lead to global heating far exceeding the goals of the Paris Agreement, to the detriment of nature and communities globally. Are our political leaders reading these reports? On the evidence of their current plans and policies, most seem oblivious to the urgency. <\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe challenge leaders to embark on wholesale change in their 2035 climate plans, to come to COP29 prepared to finance climate action and to make up for lost time. The COP28 decision to transition away from fossil fuels must now lead to plans for ending coal, oil and gas and to cut emissions to put the world back on the trajectory we need. Climate crunch has arrived and the 1.5\u00b0C goal is currently on life support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
The Emissions Gap Report 2024 found that it remains technically possible to get on a 1.5\u00b0C pathway, with solar, wind and forests \u201cholding real promise for sweeping and fast emissions cuts\u201d, alongside energy demand reductions. However, a failure to increase ambition in countries\u2019 2035 climate action plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), would put the world at risk for a temperature increase of 2.6-3.1\u00b0C by the end of this century.<\/p>\n\n
The UNEP also called on countries to explain how their 2035 NDCs contribute to tripling renewable capacity deployment and doubling annual energy efficiency rates by 2030, agreed at COP28 last year, and to transitioning away from fossil fuels.<\/p>\n\n
An Lambrechts, Biodiversity Politics Expert at Greenpeace International in Cali for COP16, said: <\/p>\n\n
\u201cWhat is needed is well beyond reduced deforestation, reforestation and so-called sustainable forest management. What science says is that protecting high-integrity carbon-rich ecosystems like primary forests offers the highest mitigation value in the land sector. Maintaining ecosystem integrity is equally important for climate adaptation. Governments should urgently start implementing the goal that was agreed at COP28 last year: halt deforestation and forest degradation by 2030. <\/p>\n\n
\u201cAt COP16, governments must push a clear call for protecting ecosystem integrity and agree on a mandate for joint work between the UN conventions on climate and biodiversity. That way, governments at COP29 in Baku can respond and set the scene for real progress in time for the \u2018climate and nature COP\u2019 in Brazil at COP30. Coordinated, immediate action on both fronts is required to solve the twin biodiversity-climate crisis. <\/p>\n\n
\u201cNot all forests store carbon the same way. Science indicates primary forests store exponentially more carbon. Protecting these high-integrity ecosystems should be the priority.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
ENDS<\/p>\n\n
Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Greenpeace\u2019s COP29 briefing<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n Greenpeace\u2019s COP16 biodiversity-climate synergy briefing<\/a><\/p>\n\n Contacts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Aaron Gray-Block, Greenpeace International, Climate Politics Communications Specialist: aaron.gray-block@greenpeace.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n Greenpeace International Press Desk, pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org<\/a>, +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours)<\/p>\n\n