Paris:
A bombshell climate science report “must sound a death knell” for coal, oil and gas, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres mentioned Monday, warning that fossil fuels have been destroying the planet.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that the 1.5C temperature objective of the Paris Agreement would probably be breached about 2030 — a decade earlier than it itself projected just 3 years ago.
Guterres known as the IPCC’s assessment — the most detailed assessment of climate science ever performed — “code red for humanity”.
“This report must sound a death knell for coal and fossil fuels, before they destroy our planet,” he mentioned in a statement.
“Countries should also end all new fossil fuel exploration and production, and shift fossil fuel subsidies into renewable energy.”
In its 1st important scientific assessment given that 2014, the IPCC mentioned that Earth’s typical surface temperature is projected to hit 1.5 or 1.6 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels at about 2030, no matter what trajectory greenhouse gas emissions take in the meantime.
By mid-century, the 1.5C threshold will have been breached across the board, by a tenth of a degree along the most ambitious pathway, and by almost a complete degree at the opposite intense.
‘The Alarm Bells Are Deafening’
In his most frontal assault but on the fossil fuel market that powers the worldwide economy, Guterres mentioned “immediate action” was required to decarbonise the power sector.
“The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable: greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel burning and deforestation are choking our planet and putting billions of people at immediate risk,” mentioned Guterres.
The Portuguese diplomat mentioned maintaining the 1.5C temperature objective in play meant that no new coal plants could be constructed and that all power derived from burning coal ought to come from renewable sources by 2040.
Atmospheric levels of planet-warming CO2 are presently at their highest in at least the last two million years, with methane and nitrous oxide levels at their highest given that 800,000 years ago.
Despite a record drop in carbon pollution last year driven by pandemic restrictions, the IPCC located “no detectable decrease” in the price of greenhouse gas accumulation.
Guterres known as on world leaders to make sure the COP26 climate summit in November leads to ramped up emissions cuts and finance to nations currently dealing with the fallout from worldwide heating.
“If we combine forces now, we can avert climate catastrophe,” he mentioned.
“But, as today’s report makes clear, there is no time for delay and no room for excuses.”
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