The outlook for climate change is better now than a few years ago, but countries have a long way to go to avoid dangerous climate impacts, according to a new report.
To avoid that, the UN report warns that emissions need to fall 43 percent by 2030 and by 60 percent by 2035, compared with 2019 levels. Ultimately, the world needs to reach net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, meaning any continued emissions would be absorbed from the air and trapped, either by plants and ecosystems or by human-made technology.
The world is doing better now than the outlook in 2015, when the Paris Agreement was signed to cut emissions. Back then, the world was on track for 3 degrees Celsius of warming. While emissions in some countries seem to have peaked, globally they're still rising. In 2022, greenhouse gases hit theThe report notes that renewable energy has been growing rapidly, with the cost of solar and wind power decreasing and countries scaling up their ambitions.
The global assessment of how much ground countries need to make up will continue at COP28, in what's known as a"stocktake." Another key discussion will be about how the most vulnerable countries can become better prepared for climate change. Since those nations have contributed relatively little to human-caused climate change, many have been leading the charge to get