U.N. Climate Goals

By Phoebe Bakeman

U.N. Sets New Climate Goals:

The United Nations (U.N) has released its 15th annual climate report, and the results are disheartening but not without hope. Despite goals set during the Paris Agreement to keep global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, emissions are on track to more than double that in the coming century. Countries need to act fast and with a resolution to save us from a climate disaster. 

Global carbon emissions are still rising, says the U.N. Last year carbon dioxide emissions rose to 57.1 gigatons (a gigaton is one billion metric tons), a historic high. Meanwhile, the climate action of eleven countries has fallen far short of their pledged goals. The energy demand is still growing, leading to carbon emissions rising in countries such as India, China, and Russia. 

The U.N. Secretary-General, António Guterres says, “Either leaders bridge the emissions gap or we plunge headlong into climate disaster with the poorest and most vulnerable suffering the most.” 

Hope lies in widespread public change. 

The U.N. reports that, “a 28 percent reduction is needed for 2030 emissions to be aligned with 2°C.” 

To meet the goal of 1.5℃, countries worldwide would have to cut their emissions by 42%. This might seem impossible, but the report also says that renewable energy, such as solar and wind power, would be a cost-effective solution. It is estimated that implementing more ambitious strategies would cost around 2.1 trillion U.S. dollars per year, less than 2% of the annual global market worth. In contrast, from 1980 to now, natural disasters have cost over 2.785 trillion dollars in the U.S. alone.

Whether or not we believe it is possible to make such a dramatic change, drastic measures now seem to be the only way to secure a future in this climate catastrophe.