UN calls for climate change state of emergency declaration

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Saturday called on governments to declare a “state of climate emergency” and meet their goals of cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Current commitments “are far from sufficient” to limit the rise in the planet’s average temperature to a maximum of 1.5ºC, warned Guterres, speaking at the virtual climate summit, which commemorates the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement. The first universal treaty in the fight against climate change, which was signed by almost 200 countries and by the European Union with the fundamental objective of preventing the planet from warming above two degrees Celsius compared to the temperature in the pre-industrial times. To this end, all States committed to submitting contributions so that greenhouse gas emissions reach their peak “as soon as possible.”

On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the treaty, signed on December 12, 2015, this Saturday a Summit on Climate Ambition is being held virtually, promoted by the UN and the United Kingdom (host country of the Climate Summit in 2021), and to which countries that are going to present new climate commitments to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement have been invited. This mini-summit takes place a day after the European Council (where the Heads of State and Government of the 27 EU countries are represented) agreed to raise the European Union’s emissions reduction target from 40% to 55% for 2030 compared to 1990 levels Five years after the Paris Summit, the global average temperature is 1.2ºC higher than pre-industrial levels and there is a 20% probability that it will reach the 1.5ºC threshold by 2024, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). I

In addition, this UN agency points out that 2020 will end up being one of the three warmest on Earth since modern temperature measurements began in 1850 and that the decade between 2011 and 2020 is the hottest ever recorded.

“We are not on the right track and we must redouble our efforts,” said Petteri Taalas, WMO Secretary General. Ocean heat reached record levels this year and high-impact events such as extreme heat, wildfires and floods, as well as a record-breaking Atlantic hurricane season, affected millions of people, exacerbating the threats of threat of the global pandemic’