UNEP calls for narrowing emissions gap to avert global climate change

NAIROBI, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Nations must close the huge emissions gap in new climate pledges and deliver immediate action, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said on Thursday.

In its Emissions Gap Report 2024 titled "No More Hot Air...Please," the UNEP called on countries to collectively reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 42 percent by 2030 to avert the devastating impacts of planetary warming.

The report clarified that it is possible to keep global temperatures within the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit outlined in the Paris climate deal, subject to a sustained transition to cleaner fuels and habitat restoration.

Inger Andersen, the executive director of UNEP, said that by honoring their carbon-cutting pledges, countries would avoid catastrophes linked to climate change including extreme floods, droughts, cyclones, and wildfires.

"Every fraction of a degree avoided counts in terms of lives saved, economies protected, damages avoided, biodiversity conserved and the ability to rapidly bring down any temperature overshoot," Andersen said.

Launched ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference in Baku this November, the report said that greenhouse gas emissions have grown to a record high of 57.1 gigatons of carbon dioxide since 2019.

According to the report, the increasing wind energy and solar photovoltaic technologies could provide 27 percent of the total potential reduction by 2030 and 38 percent by 2035.

It added that halting deforestation and other robust measures like greening the transport, buildings, and industrial sectors will be pivotal in achieving carbon goals. ■