Wednesday 20 October 2021

Another bleak warning from the UN

RADIO 4 'TODAY' NEWS REPORT

"A UN report says major economies are planning to produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels than would be consistent with meeting a key climate goal.

"Experts from the UN say the amount of fossil fuels that major economies including the UK are planning to extract this decade are incompatible with keeping global warming to safe levels.  It was agreed at the Paris Climate summit in 2015 that the average temperature worldwide should not be allowed to increase by more than 1.5 C.  With more on the UNEP report, here is Matt Magrath:

"This report says there is a huge and growing gap between the fossil fuel production plans of major countries and the limits that science says are necessary to keep the global rise in temperatures to safe levels.  According to the study, coal, oil and gas producers including the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Australia expect to extract around 110% more fossil fuels by 2030 than would be compatible with the 1.5 Celsius temperature rise.  Coal production is likely to drop but gas will increase the most in the coming years.  The authors say these plans are simply incompatible with the Paris Climate Agreement.

"This report illustrates how far countries have to move to keep the key goal of 1.5 alive is to be realised."

A NASA climate scientist says it was indicative of a wider failure to go into what he called, 'climate emergency mode'.  "There is a comforting sense that if there are a bit more renewables, a bit more electric cars and all will be well.  We cannot keep saying it is an emergency or saying that it is an existential crisis and then continue to expand the very things causing the emergency in the first place that is just burning fossil fuels."

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