Climate Catastrophe

With global temperatures continuing to soar, UN Climate Chief Simon Stiell has warned that the world has only two years left to avert a climate catastrophe. He has also appealed to all nations to urgently strengthen their respective climate plans, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs), under the Paris Agreement. What is alarming, according to him, is that despite the warning of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that global greenhouse gas emissions must peak before 2025 and fall 43% by 2030 to limit warming to 1.5°C, current NDCs will barely reduce emissions by 2030. According to him, as of today, NDCs in aggregate will barely cut emissions at all by 2030. But the silver lining is that the global community still has a huge chance to make greenhouse gas emissions tumble with a new generation of national climate plans. But then, what is needed is that the plans be strengthened and implemented in earnest. Moreover, while every country must submit a new plan, Stiell has pointed out that the reality is that G20 emissions are around 80 percent of global emissions. It is important to note that in November, the upcoming UN Climate Conference (COP29), which is scheduled to finalise a new climate finance deal, will be crucial, particularly for developing countries, in order to strengthen their NDCs.  In that conference, both developed and developing nations will have to agree on a deal with more concessional finance, new funding sources, reformed development banks, and debt relief for the most vulnerable countries. COP29 will be critical for countries like India, which have demanded the immediate delivery of climate finance by developed nations. In this context, it is pertinent to note that March was the tenth consecutive month to be the hottest on record. The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service has pointed out that the global average temperature in the last twelve months (April 2023 to March 2024) is the highest on record at 0.70°C above the 1991–2020 average. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has meanwhile stated that the window to urgent climate action is closing rapidly, and unless countries dramatically scale up their efforts to counter the climate crisis, it will be difficult for the world to face the impending global catastrophe.