Mr Guterres,whose language on climate has become increasingly strong since the lead-up to the COP26 climate talks last year,catalogued the empty pledges that put humanity “firmly on track towards an unlivable world”.
He said governments and companies had lied to people about their commitments to reducing emissions,and that though the world needed to see a 45 per cent reduction in emissions by the end of the decade the world was on track for a 14 per cent increase.
According to the report’s 65-page summary for world governments,its models show thatif the world was to hold warming to 1.5 degrees,we would need to have greenhouse gas emissions peak by 2025 and have “rapid and deep[greenhouse gas] emissions reductions follow throughout 2030,2040 and 2050”.
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It says that “without a strengthening of policies beyond those that are implemented by the end of 2020,[greenhouse gas emissions] are projected to rise beyond 2025,leading to a median global warming of 3.2 degrees”.
The report shows that if used on current trends the world’s existing fossil fuel infrastructure alone would release enough greenhouse gas emissions to drive us past 1.5 degrees.
One of the report’s lead authors,Professor Frank Jotzo,director of the Centre for Climate Economics and Policy at Australian National University,toldThe Sydney Morning Herald andThe Age that he believed it was no longer “plausible” that the world could take the actions needed to hold warming to 1.5 degrees without overshoot.