Climate goals falling short, report finds
Nearly every nation is coming up short – most of them far short – in their efforts to fight climate change, and the world is unlikely to hold warming to the internationally agreed-upon limit, according to a new scientific report.
Only one nation – tiny The Gambia in Africa – is on track to cut emissions and undertake its share of actions to keep the world from exceeding the Paris agreement goal of limiting warming to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit of warming since pre-industrial times, the report said.
Only one industrialized nation – the United Kingdom – is remotely close to doing what it should to cut emissions of heat-trapping gases and finance clean energy for poorer nations, the Climate Action Tracker reported Wednesday.
In May, after President Joe Biden’s climate summit, enough nations had promised big enough carbon pollution cuts that the tracker said the “emissions gap” – the difference between emissions projections with pledges and what’s required to meet the 2.7 degree Fahrenheit goal – dropped 11%.
“That momentum has not been maintained,” said report co-author Bill Hare, CEO of Climate Analytics. “We’re running short of countries stepping up with additional emission commitments to close the gap.”
The report called efforts by the United States, the European Union, Germany and Japan “insufficient” and more in line with global warming of 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit since the late 19th century.
The world has already warmed 2 degrees Fahrenheit since that time.