World Set to Warm With Current Climate Policies, UN Warns
- Countries aren’t doing enough to curb greenhouse gases
- Planet will likely overshoot stretch goal of Paris Agreement
The sun sets behind a burned forest following a wildfire in California in 2022.
Photographer: David McNew/AFP/Getty ImagesThe global average temperature will rise as much as 2.8C above pre-industrial levels this century if countries implement their emissions-cutting strategies as planned, according to new analysis from the United Nations.
The UN estimates that carbon emissions released into the atmosphere will increase by about 9% in 2030, compared with 2010 levels, based on current national pledges submitted ahead of the upcoming COP28 climate summit. While that’s a marginal improvement from last year, when emissions were slated to rise nearly 11%, it still means the world will likely overshoot a stretch goal of keeping global warming to below 1.5C, a target laid out by the 2015 Paris Agreement.