Temperature rise exceeds 1.8 degrees, but greenhouse gas reductions are insufficient - United Nations Environment Program

On the 21st, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) released a report saying that countries need to significantly scale up their greenhouse gas emissions cuts to keep the rise in global average temperatures from pre-industrial levels to as low as possible. He pointed out that the current pace is insufficient and that if things continue, the temperature is expected to exceed the most optimistic assumption of 1.8 degrees Celsius.

The Paris Agreement, an international framework for combating global warming, aims to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. However, according to UNEP, it is inevitable that temperatures will temporarily exceed 1.5 degrees, and even under the most optimistic assumptions, the temperature will reach 1.8 degrees by mid-century.

According to the report, greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced by 18% by 2030 and by 45% by 2035, compared to 2025, in order to limit the peak temperature to 1.8 degrees Celsius and bring it below 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century. However, measures based on each country's reduction targets will only result in a 5-8% reduction by 2030 and an 11-15% reduction by 2035.

To this end, the government called for a three-fold increase in renewable energy power generation capacity, a 75% reduction in coal-fired power generation by 2035 compared to 2025, and an effective elimination of coal-fired power generation by 2040. ``Now is the time for rapid, deep, and sustained emissions reductions,'' UNEP Director-General Andersen said.