The climate crisis can no longer be ignored nor can the world afford to continue bickering over funding and technology transfers. A new report from the United Nations has warned that climate action plans of various countries remain insufficient to limit global warming. The governments across the world are only taking baby steps to avert the climate crisis. They are not enough to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrialisation level and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.
The concentration of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, is now 50% higher than before the start of the Industrial Revolution. A lot more action is needed now to decrease the world’s carbon emissions and avoid the worst impacts of climate change. The UN report comes just weeks before world leaders are due to gather in Dubai for the annual UN climate conference COP28 (Conference Of Parties) which will see governments push for greater climate action, including a possible phase-out of fossil fuels before 2050. Under current national climate plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), emissions can be expected to rise 9% above 2010 levels by the end of this decade even if NDCs are fully implemented. Coal must be phased out seven times faster than is happening now to avoid the worst impacts of global heating. However, as the UN report revealed, coal-fired power generation is the single largest source of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions globally and that there were more than 8,000 coal-fired power plants operating across 90 countries.