China and Europe fill a vacuum as the United States yields global climate leadership

Minister of the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli, seated with Canadian Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna (in red) at the Ministerial Meeting on Action last month's climate.PHOTO DE MASAGOS ZULKIFLI / FACEBOOK

WASHINGTON – The latest indications The success of human efforts to cope with climate change is not promising.

Arctic ice melts, but in a large "hot spot", it melts at an even faster rate, according to a new study published in the review. Nature

In the northern Barents Sea, surface warming and loss of sea ice in winter are the fastest in the Arctic region.

By the way, last month, Reuters released a report from the United Nations. the year that said the international community seems to be falling short of the more ambitious goals in terms of greenhouse gas emissions set by the Paris Agreement of 2015.

"Si Emissions continue at the current rate, Human-induced warming will exceed 1.5 ° C by 2040, "the report says.

This will reduce the prospects for economic growth, he noted, pointing out, among other things, floods, droughts and heatwaves that undermine agriculture. 19659003] Last week, a World Bank report warned, "More than 800 million people in South Asia are currently living in communities that are expected to become hotspots in a climate-intensive climate scenario."

These are just three of a series of news stories reporting on global warming, as has the US withdrawal statement from the Paris Agreement. without influence on international forums consensus

But while the US federal government has taken the place of international meetings on climate change, European countries and China have mobilized to fill this gap.

n posted last month, when the European Union increased its target of the amount of energy that it consumes from renewable sources to 32 percent, against the previous goal of 27 per cent, by 2030.

And in Brussels, 36 countries per second The ministerial meeting on climate action convened by the EU from 20 to 21 June, which included Canada and China, confirmed that the Paris Agreement is irreversible and should not be renegotiated, highlighting the importance of multilateralism.

Singapore also participated in the meeting. "That's what multilateralism looks like," tweeted Catherine McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada

"Very proud that Canada is leading an ambitious international climate change". with China and the EU. This is not all bad news in the United States, the world's largest economy. As a defender, the United States is now playing a more neutral role on climate issues globally.

It may be that despite its decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, it is meeting its commitment to reduce emissions. the federal government no longer leads to climate change, there is still a lot of work at the subnational level.

"That the federal government does not lead means that it does not work to reduce its own emissions, be it through energy. Ms. Sherri Goodman, Senior Researcher in the Program on Environmental Change and Security and the Wilson Center Polar Initiative, told the Straits Times: "But companies operate in a multinational environment and they know they must continue to reduce emissions to be globally competitive."

L & # 39; the aim of the Paris Agreement, adopted by nearly 200 countries, is to limit global warming to "well below" For example, the C exceeds preindustrial times, while "continuing efforts" to reach a more severe target of 1.5 ° C.

Emissions will peak in 2020, after which countries will have to limit their individual emissions to voluntary u national. The more ambitious target seems unlikely now. The government's commitments in the Paris agreement are too weak to limit warming to 1.5 ° C, says the UN report, released in December 1999. "The question is how are we going all achieve the overall goal of falling below 2 ". Jo Scheuer, Director of Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction at the United Nations Development Program

"There is obviously a question mark about the commitments of the United States and other countries to bring us there. " 19659003] Goodman Remains Optimistic

"More and more people around the world are experiencing extreme and disruptive weather events because of warmer ocean and atmospheric temperatures that cause intense storms … (and) the melting of Arctic In the United States, more and more people are becoming aware that we must become resilient today, "she said.

"We can not wait until tomorrow.

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