Hope & Numbers: What will it take to Tip the Scales on Climate Action?

The UN says global temperature rise could lead to more frequent and more intense extreme weather events, such as prolonged droughts or devastating floods. Nations are “nowhere close” to the level of action needed to fight global warming, according to a UN climate action report released February 2021. The study urged countries to adopt stronger and more ambitious plans to reach the Paris Agreement goals, and limit the temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, by the end of the century. Credit: WFP/Matteo CosorichBy Naomi GoodmanAMSTERDAM, the Netherlands, Mar 24 2021 (IPS) We should be well on the way to solving the climate crisis by now. According to the Paris Agreement, last year should have been the year that all countries presented their commitments to cut carbon emissions for limiting global climate heating to within 1.5oC of pre-industrial levels. A quarter of the way into 2021, we’ve well and truly passed the original Paris Agreement deadline. We are still awaiting submission of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) from some of the most politically and scientifically significant global emitters, climate action further delayed by a devastating global pandemic. It’s a crisis on top of a crisis. The impacts of the climate crisis are already being felt, and the most vulnerable are the nations that also lack the resilience to weather the storm. Millions of people have already lost their lives to the climate emergency, and it’s mostly happening in the glob...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Aid Climate Change Development & Aid Environment Featured Global Headlines Health Population Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Water & Sanitation Source Type: news