Cloud of pollution above Mexico City on February 20.

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Marco Ugarte / AP / SIPA

The copy is (very) largely to be reviewed.

According to the UN, the latest climate commitments filed by the signatory states of the Paris Agreement are "very far" from the objectives, the organization denounced on Friday, calling on the large emitting countries to take action.

“In 2021, it goes or it breaks for the global climate emergency.

The science is clear, to limit the rise in temperatures to 1.5 ° C, we must reduce emissions by 45% by 2030 compared to 2010 ”, said in a statement the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres.

"Red alert for our planet"

The interim report on the climate commitments actually filed under the Paris Agreement "is a red alert for our planet", he insisted.

The 200 or so signatories of the 2015 climate pact, which aims to limit warming to + 2 ° C compared to the pre-industrial era (and if possible to + 1.5 ° C), had to submit their revised commitments before December 31, 2020. , called "Nationally Determined Contribution" (NDC).

A new UN Climate Change report shows that climate plans submitted so far by countries do not put us on a path to meet the Paris Agreement goals.



But many parties must still submit their #NDC.

This year, we can turn this trend around.

#ItsPossible



👉🏿 https://t.co/7zTXKFzQIu pic.twitter.com/NJ70jFRS4g

- UN Climate Change (@UNFCCC) February 26, 2021

But only 75 countries (including EU members) have actually done so, accounting for just 30% of global emissions.

According to the UN, the combined impact of these new contributions would constitute less than 1% reduction in emissions by 2030 (compared to 2010).

Very far from the 45% necessary to stay below 1.5 ° C as estimated by the UN climate experts (IPCC).

" Status quo "

"It's amazing to think that as nations face an emergency that could ultimately eradicate human life on this planet, and despite all the studies, reports and warnings from scientists around the world , many countries are sticking to their status quo approach, ”said UN climate manager Patricia Espinosa at a press conference.

"The most important emitters must present much more ambitious emission reduction targets for 2030 in their national contributions well before the Glasgow climate conference (COP26) in November", insists Mr. Guterres, while this crucial COP26 has already been postponed for a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A "shocking" lack of eagerness

The UN will make a new evaluation report of the NDCs before this deadline.

Many are waiting by then in particular for contributions from China, which has committed to carbon neutrality by 2060 but has not filed a new NDC, and the United States, including new President Joe Biden , which has made the climate one of its priorities, has just returned to the Paris Agreement.

The planet has gained just over 1 ° C so far, already causing an increase in extreme weather events, from heatwaves to storms, including droughts and floods.

Among the most vulnerable to these impacts of change, island states have denounced a "shocking lack of eagerness and real action" from large emitters.

“We are dangerously flirting with the 1.5 ° C limit the world has agreed to.

It is our small island states that will pay the price if it is not respected, ”warns Aubrey Webson, president of the Aosis group which represents them, in a press release.

The Covid-19 argument

A number of countries are highlighting the unprecedented Covid-19 crisis to postpone their climate commitment.

An argument that can sometimes be understandable, notes Ms. Espinosa.

"But the climate emergency did not stop for the pandemic and it will not go away because there is another emergency," she insists, calling for the opportunity to be seized of the recovery to accelerate the ecological transition.

“We cannot go back to old ways (…) and the big emitters, in particular the G20 countries, must show the way”.

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