This 2024 edition of UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report tells us that nations must show a massive increase in ambition in new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), these promises we make to each other and the world each five years.
- The report says that Nations must collectively commit to cutting 42 per cent off annual greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and 57 per cent by 2035 in the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
- If nations fails to take actions in this direction then the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal will be gone within a few years.
- As things stand, current NDCs put the world on track for a global temperature rise of 2.6-2.8°C this century.
- Even worse, policies currently in place are insufficient to meet even these NDCs. If nothing changes, we are heading for a temperature rise of 3.1°C.
- UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report 2024: No more hot air … please! finds that a failure to increase ambition in these new NDCs and start delivering immediately would put the world on course for a temperature increase of 2.6-3.1°C over the course of this century.
- This would bring debilitating impacts to people, planet and economies.
- The 2.6°C scenario is based on the full implementation of current unconditional and conditional NDCs. Implementing only current unconditional NDCs would lead to 2.8°C of warming.
- The emissions gap is defined as the difference between where global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are heading under the current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and where science indicates emissions should be in 2030 to be on a least-cost path towards limiting warming to below 2°C or further to 1.5°C.
