Limiting warming to 1.5°C crucially depends on severe short-term emission reductions and halving global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and net-zero global CO2 emissions by 2050, as well as strict emission reductions for all greenhouse gases. Warming is expected to stop shortly after net CO2 emissions reach zero worldwide. Following a campaign promise, Trump – a climate denier who claimed climate change was a “hoax” committed by China – announced in June 2017 his intention to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. But despite the president`s statement from the rose garden that “we`re going out,” it`s not that easy. The withdrawal procedure requires the agreement to be in place for three years before a country can officially announce its intention to leave. Then he will have to wait a year before leaving the pact. This means that the United States could officially leave on November 4, 2020 at the earliest, one day after the presidential election. Even a formal withdrawal would not necessarily be permanent, experts say; a future president could join him in a month. As a contribution to the objectives of the agreement, countries have submitted comprehensive national climate protection plans (nationally defined contributions, NDCs). These are not yet sufficient to meet the agreed temperature targets, but the agreement points the way for further action. The IPCC notes that climate change is limited only by “significant and sustainable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.” While one can debate the benefits of using a single global temperature threshold to represent dangerous climate change, the general scientific opinion is that any increase in global temperatures of more than 2 degrees Celsius would pose an unacceptable risk – potentially leading to mass extinctions, more severe droughts and hurricanes, and an aqueous Arctic. As the IPCC notes, while it remains uncertain about the extent of global warming that will trigger “abrupt and irreversible changes” in Earth`s systems, the risk of crossing the threshold only increases as temperatures rise. A new report, the State of Climate Action 2021, examines whether we are doing enough to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.
It translates the transformations needed to keep the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius into 40 indicators of progress with targets for 2030 and 2050 – such as the rapid elimination of coal relentlessly in electricity generation, the effective end of deforestation and the expansion of public and private climate finance. The report assesses recent global progress towards these goals and identifies critical gaps in action. Our carbon budget, which is constantly decreasing, is not lagging behind. If we don`t act now and greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise relentlessly, warming could reach 3.3°C to 5.7°C (5.9°F and 10°F) above pre-industrial levels by 2100 – temperatures that would amplify the catastrophic effects far beyond anything seen so far. It is still possible to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees F), according to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. But this will require rapid and profound transformations in all sectors – from energy, buildings, industry and transport to agriculture, land use and coastal zone management – as well as the immediate expansion of carbon removal and climate finance. One of the most important architectural concepts of the 2°C Cancun target, which has been incorporated into the Paris Agreement`s long-term temperature target, is to “keep warming” below a certain level. The term “maintain” is significantly stronger than a return to a certain level of warming around a certain point in time (up to 2100 (from an implicitly higher level). In the negotiations on this warming target, formulations such as a return to 2°C by 2100 were proposed and rejected.
When studying a range of emission pathways that are compatible with a long-term temperature target, the requirement to remain below a certain level of warming requires a greater and faster reduction in emissions than a temperature target that requires a return to a certain degree of warming by 2100, for example. This has concrete implications for policy – and emission trajectories – and, therefore, the Climate Action Tracker has taken care to use pathways that are fully in line with the targets. Since Trump`s announcement, US envoys have continued to participate in UN climate negotiations – as required – to solidify the details of the deal. Meanwhile, thousands of leaders across the country have stepped in to fill the void created by the lack of federal climate leadership, reflecting the will of the vast majority of Americans who support the Paris Agreement. There has been a wave of participation among city and state officials, business leaders, universities, and individuals in initiatives such as America`s Pledge, the U.S. Climate Alliance, We Are Still In, and the American Cities Climate Challenge. Complementary and sometimes overlapping movements aim to deepen and accelerate efforts to combat climate change at local, regional and national levels. Each of these efforts is focused on the U.S. working toward the goals of the Paris Agreement, despite Trump`s attempts to steer the country in the opposite direction. President Trump is pulling us out of the Paris Climate Agreement. In 1992, President George H.W. Bush joined 107 other heads of state at the Earth Summit in Rio, Brazil, to adopt a series of environmental agreements, including the UNFCCC framework, which is still in force today.
The international treaty aims to prevent dangerous human interference in Earth`s climate systems in the long term. The Pact does not set greenhouse gas emission limits for individual countries and does not include enforcement mechanisms, but provides a framework for international negotiations on future agreements or protocols to set binding emission targets. Participating countries meet annually at a Conference of the Parties (COP) to assess their progress and continue discussions on how best to tackle climate change. However, it is important to remember that the Paris Agreement is not static. Instead, it is designed to boost countries` national efforts over time – meaning that current commitments are the lower limit rather than the ceiling of climate change ambitions. The bulk of the work – reducing emissions even further by 2030 and 2050 – has yet to be done, and the agreement provides the tools to make that happen. For example, for a 1.5-degree C-compatible track, the amount of carbon dioxide emitted per tonne of steel produced (the carbon intensity of the steel) must fall 25-30% below 2015 levels by 2030. But from 2010 to 2019, the carbon intensity of steel fluctuated, resulting in a slight overall increase. A number of strategies, including the increasing introduction of new electricity-powered technologies, improved energy efficiency and the production of steel with green hydrogen, can help boost progress across the steel industry.
For example, in addition to increasing carbon removal through reforestation and restoration of coastal wetlands, a number of technological solutions to remove carbon will need to be rapidly expanded this decade to produce 75 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (MtCO2) per year by 2030 (roughly equivalent to Austria`s annual greenhouse gas emissions) and 4.5 GtCO2 per year by 2050 (roughly the equivalent of of Austria`s combined annual greenhouse gas emissions). European Union and Japan) and store them permanently. . . . .