UN official urges more ambitious, credible climate action plans
UN climate change secretariat (UNFCCC)’s 2024 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Synthesis Report showed that current plans would result in emissions 51.5 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent by 2030 – just 2.6 per cent below 2019 levels.
With nations preparing for the UN climate change conference (COP29) in Baku next month, Simon Stiell, the Executive Secretary of UNFCCC urged governments to convert pledges into “real world, real economy results”.
At COP28, which was hosted by the United Arab Emirates, delegations had committed to tripling renewables, advancing the global goal on adaptation and transitioning away from all fossil fuels.
“COP29 must be an enabling COP, delivering concrete and ambitious outcomes on climate finance that take account of developing country needs, recognizing that such support is core business to protect every nation and the global economy from rampaging climate impacts,” Mr. Stiell emphasised.
‘Stark but not surprising’ findings
He warned that the report’s findings are “stark but not surprising”.
“Current national climate plans fall miles short of what’s needed to stop global heating from crippling every economy and wrecking billions of lives and livelihoods across every country,” he added.
The report also showed that the current trajectory falls far short of scientific requirements.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – a UN scientific body assessing climate change and providing governments with scientific information to develop climate policies – notes that emissions need to be cut by 43 per cent compared to 2019 levels.
Mr. Stiell emphasised that the current levels of pollution would “guarantee a human and economic trainwreck for every country, without exception.”
Looking ahead to next year’s updated commitments, he called for an “ABC test” for new plans:
“They must have ambitious new emissions targets that are economy wide…they must be broken down into sectors and gases…and they must be credible, backed up by substantive regulations, laws and funding.”
The 2024 NDC report “must be a turning point, ending the era of inadequacy and sparking a new age of acceleration, with much bolder new national climate plans from every country due next year,” he urged.