UN urged to declare “climate emergency” | the Chronicle

The Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres, called on world leaders to declare a “state of climate emergency” achieve environmental balance by 2050, as part of the opening of a virtual summit to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement.

“We are still not going in the right direction”, said the Portuguese at the opening of the event, who considered that the current commitments “are far from sufficient” for limit the increase in the average temperature of the planet to a maximum of 1.5 ºC.

“Can anyone still deny that we are facing a dramatic emergency?“, asked the diplomat via video. “That is why today I call on leaders around the world to declare a climate emergency in their country until carbon neutrality is achieved ”, he explained.

“If we don’t change course, we could be headed for a catastrophic (average) temperature rise of over 3 ° C this century,” added and urged “To all world leaders to declare a state of climate emergency in their countries until they achieve carbon neutrality”.

According to the consensus of scientists, an increase in temperature of more than 2 ºC will cause irreversible changes on the planet, therefore carbon neutrality, to which more than 110 countries have committed, it seeks to ensure that a country does not emit more greenhouse gases than it can absorb.

To show the example, The European Union has agreed to increase its emissions reduction target by 15%, which will now be 55% by 2030, while the UK has pledged to do so by 68%.

These measures were celebrated by the Portuguese diplomat, who felt that “deserve to be imitated”, during his inaugural address at the virtual summit, organized by the UN, UK and France, with Chile and Italy, the news agency reported AFP.

The event aims to revive the commitment made five years ago by the international community in the Paris Agreement, now that the President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden, promised to return to the pact after the departure decided in 2018 by the outgoing president Donald trump, which hampered the initiative.

Despite the severe recession caused by the coronavirusGuterres stressed that countries must strive for and meet their targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“As the world struggles to recover from the effects of the pandemic, we cannot go back to the old norm of inequality and fragility. We need to take a step towards a safer and more sustainable path, ”he added. added Guterres to his account Twitter.

Carbon neutral by 2050?

Through a statement quoted by various media, Guterres pointed out that the year 2021 is a good opportunity, although unexpected, for “repair our global environment and rethink economies”, while highlighting three fundamental principles to move in this direction.

First, form a coalition “truly global”, in the all members adopt plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050; as good as “align global finance” with him Paris Agreement and the objectives of Sustainable development and, finally, help the nations that “They are already facing the terrible effects of climate change.”

The five-year balance

The Treaty of Paris was signed with the fundamental objective of prevent the planet from heating above two degrees Celsius above the temperature in pre-industrial times. To this end, all States have pledged to submit contributions so that greenhouse gas emissions reach their maximum. “as soon as possible”.

Five years after the Paris summit, the the global average temperature is 1.2 ° C higher than pre-industrial levels and there is a 20% probability that it will reach the threshold of 1.5 ° C in 2024, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

In addition, this agency of HIM-IS-IT points out that 2020 will end up being one of the three hottest on Earth since modern temperature measurements began in 1850 and that the decade between 2011 and 2020 is the hottest on record. “We are not on the right track and we must redouble our efforts”, a point Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General of WMO.

Ocean heat has reached this year record highs and high-impact events, such as extreme heat, forest fires and floods, as well as a record hurricane season in the Atlantic, have affected millions of people, exacerbating threats from the American pandemic. Covid-19 human health and safety and economic stability.