Current national plans for CO2 emissions reduction will fall ten gigatons short of the cut required, if the UN is to meet its target of limiting the global temperature rise to +2°C. EurActiv France reports.
With less than three months to go before the Paris Climate Conference (COP 21), Monday (31 August) marks the start of a week of international climate negotiations in Bonn. It has become clear that the success of the main objective of a potential Paris agreement, to limit global warming to +2°C by 2050, is far from guaranteed.
Ten gigatons too much CO2 by 2030
So far only 56 countries, representing 60% of global CO2 emissions, have submitted their national contributions to the United Nations' efforts.
"The models show that the current commitments will not allow us to keep the temperature rise below +2°C," said Laurence Tubiana, France's lead negotiator for the COP 21. "But we can take immediate action to reduce the ten gigaton carbon gap," she added, in reference to the contributions from private companies and local communities that are flooding in to the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change).
For the complete article, please see Euractiv.com.
The scope of national security is expanding beyond violent threats to encompass a broader array of dangers. In an article for World Politics Review, CFR's Stewart M. Patrick assesses the implications of COVID-19 and climate change for the theory and practice of national security.
Although there is no causality nor direct and automatic link between climate change and conflict, we can see that climate change can intensify conflict drivers and make it harder to find stability. The online workshop "Climate change, conflict and fragility: Increasing resilience against climate-fragility risks", organised by the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO) and adelphi, looked into this complex relationship.
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous parallels have been drawn between this health crisis and the climate crisis. Science plays an important role in advising decision makers on how to ensure sustainable crisis management and a precautionary approach to avoid harmful repercussions, particularly where we do not yet know all the consequences of our actions. [...]
Decarbonisation won’t come as fast as the pandemic. But if fossil fuel exporters are not prepared for it, they will face an enduring crisis. The EU can help.