UNITED NATIONS: Record heat waves, deadly flooding and extreme weather reflect an ever-warming planet poised to soon breach safe temperature limits, according to a new UN report released, but doubling down on climate action now could avoid a climate catastrophe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The scorching heat in the northern hemisphere in recent months, raging wildfires and deadly floods are a warning of what lies ahead, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He recalled that the historic 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change saw world leaders pledge to keep temperature rise to the 1.5\u00b0C limit above pre-industrial levels, which scientists say is critical to avoiding the worst climate devastation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indeed, the world is failing to keep that promise, according to the report from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe fight for 1.5 degrees is the fight for humanity,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are set to breach the 1.5\u00b0C limit within the next few years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are no good outcomes if temperatures remain above 1.5\u00b0C consistently, warned UNEP chief Inger Andersen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAcross the globe, extreme heatwaves are already proving that climate impacts will strike faster, hit harder, and last longer, costing more lives and causing deeper disruption,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNow is the time we must double down on climate action. We can and must get on the right path. By cutting greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening resilience and adaptation and ensuring exceedance of 1.5\u00b0C is as small and short as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The UN chief agreed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEvery fraction of a degree will cost lives, destroy livelihoods, deepen inequality and push ecosystems closer to irreversible damage,\u201d the Secretary-General said. \u201cHumanity is speeding past the limit to avoid climate catastrophe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, swift climate action can bring the world back from the brink, Guterres said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe can still bring warming back below 1.5\u00b0C by the end of the century,\u201d he said. \u201cWe must make the overshoot as small and short as possible, limiting how high temperatures rise and how long they remain above 1.5.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That demands an \u201covershoot of ambition\u201d through accelerating the phaseout of fossil fuels and the renewables revolution, slashing methane pollution and protecting land, forest and oceans, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also means governments must over-deliver on national climate plans, net zero commitments and beyond, and developed countries must triple adaptation finance and ensure it reaches those most at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe science is clear,\u201d Guterres said. \u201cThe solutions are at hand, and the world has never been better equipped to deploy them. Now is the time to raise ambition and accelerate action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Highlights from the new report:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 Above 1.5\u00b0C, risks and impacts will intensify with every extra fraction of a degree and every year, including intensified extreme weather, ecosystem loss and submersion of small island developing States and low-lying coastal cities alongside severe damage to human health, food security, water supplies, nature, cities, infrastructure and economies;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 The likelihood of crossing irreversible tipping points increases with the magnitude and duration of higher temperatures, including the destabilisation of major ice sheets and degradation of the Amazon rainforest;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 Mitigation and adaptation must advance together, prioritising such interventions as nature-based cooling;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 Net zero is a milestone towards net-negative in sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions;<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 Conditions for success include strong political will and multilateralism, effective policies, inclusive governance, and finance, and.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 Countries with greater responsibility for climate change should act the fastest with the greatest ambition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UNITED NATIONS: Record heat waves, deadly flooding and extreme weather reflect an ever-warming planet poised to soon breach safe temperature limits, according to a new UN report released, but doubling down on climate action now could avoid a climate catastrophe. The scorching heat in the northern hemisphere in recent months, raging wildfires and deadly floods […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1715,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,13],"tags":[35,34],"class_list":["post-1714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest","category-world","tag-un","tag-united-nations"],"yoast_head":"\n