Weather & Science
Countries Are Given Another Stark Climate Warning Ahead of COP27
- UN report looks at warming planet from additional perspectives
- Authors call for emissions reductions from electricity to food
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Countries’ updated emissions reduction pledges ahead of key climate talks next month do little more to keep the planet from overheating than policy actions already in place, according to a new United Nations Environment Programme report.
The UNEP’s latest tally of every country’s detailed climate commitments, called nationally determined contributions, finds the world is on track to warm 2.6C by 2100. If countries only relied on climate policies that have already been enacted, the report says the world would warm 2.8C by the end of the century. While every fraction of a degree is more catastrophic for life on the planet, both forecasts fall shy of the Paris Agreement’s goal to limit global warming well below 2C, ideally 1.5C.