Amsterdam – Concerted and extensive action to transition away from fossil fuels and end forest destruction must become the driving force of government policy in response to the United Nations Environmental Programme’s (UNEP) warning that the global temperature rise will exceed 1.5\u00b0C, likely within the next few years.<\/p>\n\n
The new UNEP report<\/a> represents the first United Nations (UN) report describing a 1.5\u00b0C \u201covershoot, peak and decline\u201d pathway and comes amid a year of worsening heatwaves, wildfires and a strengthening \u2018super\u2019 El Ni\u00f1o that have already heightened alarm about the pace of climate change. Confirmation of a looming 1.5\u00b0C overshoot is the latest reminder of the need for a robust multilateral response to match the mounting scale of the climate threat.[1]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n At this year\u2019s UN General Assembly and the UN climate talks COP31, world leaders must raise the bar on climate action. Greenpeace is also urging the Santa Marta \u2018coalition of doers\u2019 to spearhead ambitious national action at home and, in a turbulent geopolitical space, drive concrete progress towards a just transition away from fossil fuels.[2][3]<\/p>\n\n Jasper Inventor, Deputy Programme Director at Greenpeace International, said: <\/strong>\u201cThis is news none of us wanted to hear, but overshoot is not the reason to give up and surrender 1.5\u00b0C. It\u2019s a heartbreaking moment, and we need to reflect on that, but every fraction of a degree still matters and the UNEP report must now serve as a defining call to action.<\/p>\n\n \u201cThe 1.5\u00b0C goal is not only a legal, political and moral threshold \u2013 it\u2019s our lifeline and what we do today and tomorrow will determine our fate. Governments must accelerate a fast, fair and funded just transition into renewable energy, ensure we end and reverse forest destruction by 2030 and hold fossil fuel polluters and forest destroyers to account. To help finance climate action, we must also make polluters pay for climate damages.\u201d Limiting global warming to 1.5\u00b0C is a non-negotiable survival line for humanity. It is enshrined in law by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in an Advisory Opinion \u2013 and backed by a UN<\/p>\n\n General Assembly resolution. The ICJ confirmed 1.5\u00b0C was the legal obligation for all states and found that high carbon-emitting countries carry a historical responsibility to act fastest and hardest to protect the most vulnerable communities. <\/p>\n\n Some of the communities already experiencing the worst of climate impacts live in the Pacific region. The release of the UNEP report coincided with the Pacific Island Forum in Palau, where Pacific island states are meeting to build regional momentum toward COP31 and a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific.[4]<\/p>\n\n Moemoana Schwenke, Pacific Climate Campaigner at Greenpeace Australia Pacific said from Palau: <\/strong>\u201cFor the Pacific, 1.5\u00b0C is not an ambition, it is a survival line. It is a matter of justice, sovereignty and our right to determine our own futures in our Pacific way. We inherit our lands, oceans and cultures as an entrusted responsibility, not a commodity to be exhausted. <\/p>\n\n \u201cThe International Court of Justice has already been clear that 1.5\u00b0C is a legally binding obligation, not just a choice. Pacific communities, for decades, have been clear that our ways of life, homes and livelihoods are under threat from climate disasters and impacts. An overshoot is not compatible with Pacific wellbeing.<\/p>\n\n \u201cThe court and governments must translate responsibility into action: a rapid, just and legally grounded transition away from fossil fuels with no further expansion of coal, oil and gas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n Dr Jerry Jose, <\/strong>Senior Scientist <\/strong>at the Greenpeace International Science Unit said: <\/strong>\u201cAmong the many stark warnings, the UNEP report presents the intergenerational burden climate change will impose on future communities in an overshoot scenario. The risks of permanent change escalate as our climate warms. In addition, the multiple decades needed for a decline in the global temperature back to 1.5\u00b0C would exacerbate already uneven impacts, many of which having the potential to continue well beyond stabilisation.<\/p>\n\n \u201cDeep and sustained mitigation in the near-term is essential to limit the peak and duration of the overshoot we are leaving our future generations. Even a decline of temperature is \u2018not a given\u2019 and depends on decisions and actions taken today. This raises profound questions about intergenerational responsibility and must compel us to act now.\u201d Notes:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n [1] UNEP report: Limiting Overshoot <\/p>\n\n [2] Media statement: Santa Marta conference to end fossil fuels a landmark moment for climate and energy stability<\/a><\/p>\n\n [3] Policy Briefing: A Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels<\/a><\/p>\n\n [4] Media statement: Pacific Islands Forum leaders, Albanese must not lose focus on Pacific priorities of climate and ocean<\/a><\/p>\n\n Contacts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n Aaron Gray-Block, Greenpeace International, Climate Politics Communications Manager, aaron.gray-block@greenpeace.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n
The UNEP said although an overshoot of 1.5\u00b0C will happen, the extent and duration of it can still be limited through an \u201covershoot, peak and decline\u201d pathway. However, it reaffirmed that risks and impacts will intensify with every fraction of a degree and time spent above the 1.5\u00b0C threshold. Its best-case scenario has a peak temperature rise of 1.8\u00b0C if we collectively meet and exceed existing climate commitments. 1.8\u00b0C will already carry significant risks, however, including the potential for irreversible tipping points to global systems to be reached. <\/p>\n\n
ENDS<\/p>\n\n