The reduction in greenhouse gas emissions due to the Covid-19 pandemic will have an “insignificant” effect and the world is heading towards a 3ºC warming, far from the objectives of the Paris Agreement, which will turn five this year Saturday, December 12, the UN warned this Wednesday.
Three days before a summit that aims to give new impetus to international commitments to keep global warming below 2°C, and if possible 1.5°C, compared to the pre-industrial era, the United Nations Program for the Environment (UNEP) launches an alarm message again.
In its annual report it warns that the reactivation after the economic stoppage due to the new
coronavirus will have to be very ecological to avoid the worst.
To keep hope of limiting global warming to 1.5°C, greenhouse gas emissions would have to be reduced by 7.6% per year, every year from 2020 to 2030, according to the UN.
These emissions increased by an average of 1.5% annually over the last decade, reaching a record in 2019 (59.1 gigatons, or billions of tons, or + 2.6% more than in 2018).
The
Covid-19 pandemic, which halted much of the global economy and human activities for several months, caused a sharp decline. Greenhouse gas emissions are expected to decline by 7% in 2020.