OHE: The planet is facing a temperature increase of 2.8 degrees Celsius

Government commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions keep the planet on track temperature increase of 2.8 degrees Celsius this century, after “woefully inadequate” progress to limit global warming, according to a United Nations report.

Representatives from all over the world will meet from November 6 to 18 at the COP27 climate talks in Egyptin an effort to limit temperature rise to less than 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels and ideally to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

So far, additional commitments from the previous UN climate summit last year in Scotland remove 0.5 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e), less than 1% of estimated global emissions in 2030, according to the Environment Programme’s annual report of the UN (UNEP) published today.

The existing policies, if not strengthened, they will likely lead to a 2.8 degree Celsius rise in temperature by the end of the century, 0.1 point higher than last year’s estimates.

“We had the opportunity to make incremental changes, but that period is over. Only a profound transformation of our economies and societies can save us from an accelerating climate change,” said UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen.

Global emissions in 2030 are estimated at 58 GtCO2e based on current policies. The difference between binding and limiting warming to 2 degrees Celsius is 15 GtCO2e per year and for 1.5 degrees it is 23 GtCO2e per year.

To limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, annual emissions must be reduced by 45% compared to emissions projections based on current policies in just eight years, and the transformation of the global economy to a low-carbon economy will require investments of at least 4-6 trillion dollars, according to the report.

Earlier today, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, speaking to the BBC, argued that it would be “stupid” for humanity to continue betting on fossil fuels, which “led to destruction”, stressing that if the world had invested instead of these in renewable energy sources, the energy crisis could have been avoided.

“It is clear that if the world, and especially Europe, had invested massively in renewable energy sources in the last 20 years, we would not be facing the energy crisis we know today and the prices of oil and gas would not be so high. Antonio Guterres said in response to a question from British Public Broadcasting about the war in Ukraine and the consequences of dependence on fossil fuels.

“We didn’t invest enough in renewables and now we’re paying the price,” he added. “The greatest stupidity would be to invest more in what led us to this disaster,” he concluded.

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