While the objective of the Paris Agreement is to keep the increase in the Earth’s temperature well below 2°C by 2100 compared to pre-industrial levels and to aim at below 1.5°C, the world is on the path to warming of at least 3°C, a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released on 18 February points out, once again sounding the alarm.
Calling for “Making Peace With Nature”, this report aims to expose the seriousness of the triple environmental emergency - climate, biodiversity loss and pollution - by providing a synthesis of the findings of the main global assessments, notably those of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
Apart from the risk of failing to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement, none of the global goals of protecting life on Earth and halting land and ocean degradation have been fully achieved, the document criticises.
“The world is failing to meet its commitments to limiting environmental damage”, says UNEP as a result, while stressing that much also remains to be done to combat air and water pollution, manage chemicals safely and reduce waste.
Advocating for the inclusion of natural capital in decision-making, the report calls on countries around the world to eliminate environmentally harmful subsidies and invest in the transition to a sustainable future.
“Governments are still paying more to exploit nature than to protect it - spending 4 to 6 trillion dollars a year on subsidies that damage the environment”, said UN Secretary-General António Guterres, presenting the report.
See the report: https://bit.ly/3u9KYv3 (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)