the signatory countries of the Paris agreement will only reduce their emissions by 2% by 2030 (while they should be reduced by 43%)

The governments of the world are acting “small steps to avoid the climate crisis” whereas they “must take giant steps”, thunders the UN. The current climate commitments of countries lead to only a 2% reduction in global emissions in 2030 compared to 2019, instead of the 43% recommended by climatologists to hope to limit global warming to 1.5°C, points out a report from the UN Climate published Tuesday, November 14.

This report is the annual summary of the latest emissions reduction commitments made by the 195 signatories of the 2015 Paris Agreement, for which COP28 must establish the first official assessment and the first corrective measures. The summit, which will be held from November 30 to December 12 in Dubai, “must be a real turning point”urges Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNCAC). “The report released today clearly shows that every fraction of a degree counts, but we are off track”he added.

The 2015 Paris Agreement sets the goal of limiting global warming “significantly below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels”when humanity began to exploit on a large scale fossil fuels responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, “and if possible at 1.5°C”. But to have a 50% chance of containing warming to 1.5°C, global emissions must fall by 43% by 2030, compared to 2019 levels, according to the latest IPCC report.