The U.S. Isn ’t the Only Major Country Not Meeting Its Climate Goals

Three years ago, world leaders from nearly every country around the world laid out specific plans to fight climate change that included strategies to slash their greenhouse gas emissions. Those commitments generated optimism that the world might finally address global warming and helped seal the deal on the Paris Agreement. Now, the majority of G20 countries aren’t following through on their promises, according to a new report from the United Nation Environment Programme. And, even if countries followed through, the world would fall short of limiting temperature rise to safe levels. “Countries are not doing enough,” says UNEP official Phillip Drost, who coordinated the report. “We need to mitigate more emissions.” The report is the latest stark warning that the clock is ticking for countries to address climate change. Global carbon dioxide emissions grew in 2017 after three years of stabilizing and show no signs of peaking, according to the report. Some leading scientists say emissions need to peak and decline by 2020 for the world to keep global temperatures from rising to unsafe levels. The report looks specifically at G20 countries and shows that the vast majority, including the United States, the world’s second largest emitter, are not on track to reduce their emissions in line with their 2015 commitments. And some of the countries that are — such as Russia and Turkey — have been criticized for setting unambitious targets. ...
Source: TIME: Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized climate change Environment United Nations Source Type: news