UNEP: New climate pledges need ‘quantum leap’ in ambition to deliver Paris goals - Carbon Brief

UN Environment Programme calls for “no more hot air” as countries approach 2025 deadline to submit next NDCs.

Greenhouse gas emissions reached record levels in 2023 , up 1.3% from 2022 , and rising notably faster than the average over the past decade .

Current policies put the world on track for 2.9C of warming by 2100 , the report finds though this could be reduced to 2.4-2.6C.

But unless global emissions in 2030 are brought below the levels implied by current policies, a pathway to 1.5C with no or limited overshoot becomes impossible.

Since the 2023 report, there have not been any notable changes in country pledges or policies and global emissions continued to grow.

This means that the emissions gap is wider than it was last year and the world is further off track from its climate goals.

Many countries are “not even on track to deliver on their current NDCs” today , the report says.

New UNEP report explores what it would entail and cost to close the emissions gap.

Global emissions could be reduced by 31GtCO2e by 2030 ( 54% below current policy levels) for a cost of less than $200 per tonne of CO2.

Energy sector has the largest potential for low-cost decarbonisation, with forestry making up the largest component of this.