Global warming: we are "very far from the mark", notes UNEP
Fire in California, September 2022. AP - Ethan Swope
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We will have to transform society to deal with global warming.
This is the clear statement of the UN, Thursday, October 27, during the presentation of the organization's report.
The commitments made so far by the States bring us towards a warming of 2.5 degrees, well beyond the maximum two degrees targeted.
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We are pitifully far from the mark, here is the unquestionable observation of Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations.
"
Droughts, floods, storms and fires are devastating all around the globe.
The losses and damages due to the climate emergency are getting worse every day, and the commitments made by States are woefully not up to the mark.
The window to limit the rise in temperature to 1.5 degrees is closing quickly.
Greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 45% by the end of the decade.
But as our report shows, they remain at dangerous record highs, and they continue to rise.
If current policies are maintained, the world is heading for a warming of 2.8 degrees by the end of the century.
In other words, we are heading for a global catastrophe…”
As the latest @UNEP Emissions Gap report makes clear, we are headed for economy-destroying levels of global heating.
We need #ClimateAction on all fronts – and we need it now.
We must close the emissions gap before catastrophe closes in on us all.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) October 27, 2022
Exceptional heat in Marseille
Illustration of this warming in Marseille where this month of October is the hottest ever recorded by Météo France since 1947, and the start of temperature readings.
In the south of France, it is as hot as the start of summer and several heat records have been broken in Provence.
Strong heat in Marseille where 27 degrees were recorded this Thursday: words of Marseillais at the microphone of our correspondent.
Yoram Melloul
Taken together, the commitments of the 193 signatory countries of the 2015
Paris Agreement
would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5 to 10% in 2030, far from the proclaimed objectives.
"
It's totally insufficient,
recalls Inga Andersen,
director of the United Nations Environment Programme,
we must reach 45% to be on the way to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees.
Where does this lead us
?
a warmer temperature of 2.4 to 2.6 degrees in 2100. Of course, the States have commitments to reach 0 emissions later.
But this is not credible because nothing has yet been put in place and the latest commitments we have received are insufficient.
»
At
COP 26 in Glasgow
last year, states committed to revising their targets upwards.
Since then, a year has been lost... The United Nations has in fact only received 23 contributions, enabling a small additional percentage of reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to be obtained.
We are far, very far from the mark.
►
To read also
: a rebound civil society puts pressure on the final negotiations of the COP 26
►
To read also
: The history of the climate COPs from Rio to Glasgow
To get on the right path, the United Nations believes that it will necessarily go through a radical transformation of our system, rapid transformation, global and in all areas.
We have squandered our chance for smooth change, UNEP believes that only a radical transformation of our economy and our societies will allow us to escape disaster.
France was hit, like the rest of Europe, by an unprecedented heat wave during the summer of 2022. Here, residents walk near a very dry stretch of the Loire, in Loireauxence, on August 16, 2022 © Stephane Mahe / Reuters
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