Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs
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- Recently, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)’s Emissions Gap Report 2021 has been published.
- This is the twelfth edition of the UNEP Emissions Gap Report It informs that the new national climate pledges combined with other mitigation measures put the world on track for a global temperature rise of 2.7°C by the end of the century.
Important points:
- Following an unprecedented drop of 5.4 % in 2020, global carbon dioxide emissions are bouncing back to pre-COVID levels, and concentrations of GreenHouse Gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere continue to rise.
- New mitigation pledgesfor 2030 show some progress, but their aggregate effect on global emissions is insufficient.
- As a group, G20 members are not on track to achieve either their original or new 2030 pledges.
- Ten G20 members are on track to achieve their previous Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), while seven are off track.
- Compared to previous unconditional NDCs, the new pledges for 2030 reduce projected 2030 emissions by only 7.5 %, whereas 30 % is needed for 2°C and 55 % is needed for 1.5°C.
- The long-term net-zero emissionspledged by 50 countries, covering more than half of global emissions show large ambiguities.
- Net zero emission means that all man-made greenhouse gas emissions must be removed from the atmosphere through reduction measures, thus reducing the Earth’s net climate balance, after removal via natural and artificial sink.
- Few of the G20 members’ NDC targets put emissions on a clear path towards net-zero pledges.
- There is an urgent need to back these pledges up with near-term targets and actions that give confidence that net-zero emissions can ultimately be achieved and the remaining carbon budget kept.
Global Warming:
- At the end of the century global warming is estimated at 2.7°C if all unconditional 2030 pledges are fully implemented and 2.6°C if all conditional pledges are also implemented.
- If the net-zero emissions pledges are additionally fully implemented, this estimate is lowered to around 2.2°C.
- Reduction of methane emissionsfrom the fossil fuel, waste and agriculture sectors can contribute significantly to closing the emissions gap and reduce warming in the short term.
SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT
