Currently, global climate governance has entered a critical implementation stage of fully implementing the Paris Agreement. However, it is concerning that there is still a significant gap between the emission reduction progress of various countries and the temperature control targets set by the agreement. Authoritative experts urgently call on economies with different levels of development to fulfill their respective responsibilities, further increase emissions reduction efforts, and jointly tackle the global challenge of climate change through close international cooperation.
The United Nations Security Council recently held a high-level debate on climate change risks, during which a clear warning was issued: if global temperatures continue to rise uncontrollably, serious crises such as war and large-scale population migration will follow. International organizations and numerous countries unanimously strongly call for governments to immediately take more practical and feasible adaptation measures, significantly increase emission reduction targets, and make every effort to reduce climate risks.
According to the interim report "The State of Global Climate 2020" released by the World Meteorological Organization, the global average temperature in the first 10 months of 2020 was 1.2 degrees Celsius higher than before industrialization (1850-1900), making it one of the three hottest years on record. Meteorologists point out that global warming is continuously exacerbating the instability of the climate system, leading to increasingly frequent extreme weather events such as extreme cold weather, heatwaves, floods, and droughts. From the raging forest fires in Australia at the beginning of last year, to the rare 40 year drought in Thailand in the first half of the year, to the exceptionally high temperature of 38 degrees Celsius in northeastern Siberia in June last year, and the Arctic cold wave sweeping through most parts of the United States in February this year, causing widespread power and water outages in Texas, southern Canada and northern Mexico have also been hit by strong cold waves and extreme blizzards. These extreme weather events are bringing unprecedented impacts to human society.
The data released at the first Climate Adaptation Summit shows that extreme climate disasters have caused a cumulative loss of up to $2.56 trillion in the global economy this century. Over the past 20 years, about 480000 people have lost their lives due to natural disasters related to extreme weather, and areas closely related to human survival such as water resources and food security are seriously threatened. An article published in the British journal Nature Climate Change warns that future climate change will trigger uneven regional transfer of tropical rainforests, leading to droughts in many parts of the world. This not only threatens biodiversity, but also endangers the food security of billions of people.
In terms of greenhouse gas emissions reduction, scientific research shows that in order to strictly control the global temperature rise within 1.5 degrees Celsius, global greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 45% compared to 2010 by 2030. Since the Paris Agreement was reached more than 5 years ago, an increasing number of countries have committed to achieving carbon neutrality goals by the middle of this century. However, the current emission reduction efforts of various economies are still far from the requirements of the agreement to "control global warming within 2 degrees Celsius and strive to achieve a temperature control target of 1.5 degrees Celsius", and the global emission reduction pressure is unprecedentedly huge.
The latest report from the United Nations Environment Programme shows that 127 countries and regions worldwide have made carbon neutrality commitments, with 75 contracting parties reporting new nationally determined contributions, but their emissions account for only 30% of the total global greenhouse gas emissions. The report points out that even though some countries have increased their emission reduction efforts, the overall effect is still far from meeting expectations. The article in the journal Nature Climate Change points out that in order to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, the world needs to reduce 1 billion to 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. Although carbon dioxide emissions have decreased during the epidemic prevention and control period, in order to maintain the good momentum of global emissions reduction, it is still necessary for all parties to work together and adopt global strategic measures such as large-scale development of renewable energy industries and reducing investment in fossil energy infrastructure.
UN Secretary General Guterres emphasized that 2021 is a crucial year for addressing global climate change, and countries should seize the opportunity of economic recovery in the post pandemic period to promote economic revitalization and reshape development models in a greener and cleaner way. He pointed out, "Coping with the climate crisis is the core issue of our time, and we must take immediate action
At the summit held in Brussels last year, the leaders of the 27 EU countries reached an agreement on higher emission reduction targets, planning to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% compared to 1990 by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. In the post pandemic economic recovery phase, Europe is actively building a green recovery model. For example, France has taken a series of measures to encourage various entities to actively participate in national green growth and energy transformation; The EU has launched the 'Sustainable European Investment Plan', which will bring huge development opportunities to industries such as clean energy and building renovation, and promote sustained growth in green investment.
Faced with the increasingly severe climate change situation, it is urgent for the world to join hands and take action. Only through joint efforts of all countries can we effectively address this major challenge that concerns the future of humanity.
(Editer：admin)
