New Delhi, Nov 14 (EFE).- International efforts are “lagging significantly behind the pace and scale” to limit global warming by 2030, a new report warned on Tuesday as the world prepares for the COP28 UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai later this month.
“In a year where climate change has been wreaking havoc across the world, it’s clear global efforts to curb emissions are falling short,” said Louise Jeffery, one of the authors of the report titled “State of Climate Action 2023.”
The World Resources Institute, Climate Action Tracker, the Bezos Earth Fund, ClimateWorks Foundation, and the United Nations Climate Change High-Level Champions put the report together.
Scientists examined 42 sector-wise indicators set to reach the 2030 target of the Paris Agreement, an international climate treaty that aims to reduce 45 percent emissions by 2030 to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
It found that 41 of 42 indicators assessed are not on track to achieve their 2030 targets.
“Continued incremental change is not an option; 1.5 degrees Celsius is still achievable, but we urgently need a step change in climate action,” said Jeffery in a statement.
The researchers found that six indicators are advancing at a “promising” but insufficient speed, 24 are “on track” but well below the required pace, six are going in a “completely wrong” direction and need a U-turn, and five indicators have insufficient data to track progress.
Ending public financing for fossil fuels, reducing deforestation, and expanding carbon pricing systems saw the most significant setbacks in the last year, according to the report.
Only one indicator, the share of electric vehicles in passenger car sales, is on track.
“We’re seeing electric vehicles take off faster than what we thought possible just a few years ago, in turn creating vast benefits for public health, the economy, and the climate,” ClimateWorks Foundation’s President Helen Mountford said.
“If we can replicate this progress in other areas, it shows that transformative change is possible if pursued in a concerted, emergency effort, moving them over positive tipping points.”
But for other sectors, the report urged “tremendous acceleration in climate action.”
The share of solar and wind power in electricity generation has grown by an annual average of 14 percent in recent years, but it needs to reach 24 percent to get on track for 2030, the researchers found.
Likewise, there is a need to “phase out coal in electricity generation seven times faster than current rates” and to “expand the coverage of rapid transit infrastructure six times faster.”
The report recommends that deforestation, one of the worsening indicators, needs to be reduced four times faster.
“It is only becoming more clear and more urgent to course-correct on climate,” World Resources Institute President Ani Dasgupta said.
“We already know what needs to be done, sector by sector, by 2030. The world has made some progress—in some cases, exponential progress—but overall, we are lagging, with several trends moving quickly in the wrong direction.”
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