Climate targets deadline missed by most countries
Many of the biggest polluting countries have missed a deadline by the UN to set new climate targets. This was put in place to cut down on global emissions to tackle climate change, particularly following the re-election of Donald Trump.
Nearly 200 countries signed up to the Paris Agreement and had a deadline on Monday, 10th February, to submit new national climate targets to the UN. The plan would set out how they hope to reduce emissions over the next ten years.
Many of the largest polluters, including China, India, and the EU have failed to do so as of Monday morning.
“The public is entitled to expect a strong reaction from their governments to the fact that global warming has now reached 1.5 degrees Celsius for an entire year, but we have seen virtually nothing of real substance,”
said CEO of science and policy institute Climate Analytics, Bill Hare.
The Paris climate accord commits countries to aim to avoid global warming that exceeds 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Action so far has fallen short of the cuts needed to achieve this. Last year was the first on record to breach 1.5 degrees of warming.
Some of the largest economies, including the UK, Brazil, Japan, and Canada have all announced new climate plans. The US has as well under Biden which Trump is expected to scrap. Last month, he once again ordered the US to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, before pausing some federal clean energy spending.
U.N. climate chief Simon Stiell said last week that most countries have said that they intend to follow through with their plans in 2025.
“Countries are taking this extremely seriously, which isn’t surprising given these plans will be key to how much of the 2 trillion boom governments can secure,” Stiell said, referring to the $2 trillion invested globally in clean energy and infrastructure last year. “So taking a bit more time to ensure these plans are first-rate makes sense.”
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