To save the climate, “the window of opportunity is closing”, warns the UN

To consult! the United Nations (UN) seems to be screaming. It’s Thursday, October 27th, it’s 23 degrees, and even though it’s pleasant, it’s not normal. In its report released today, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) is both alarmist and accusatory. In the face of the threat of global warming, state policies are far from up to par.

Climate: a gap between promises and actions

The UN report compares the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with those that are concretely emerging as prospects for change. The observation is clear: “the window of opportunity is closing”. Blaming “current policies (which) alone would lead to a 2.8 ° C rise in temperatures by the end of the century.”

According to UNEP, even if states applied the promised environmental measures, global warming would still reach 2.4-2.6 degrees. As such, it recalls the commitments made by the States. Spoiler alert … no one will be held. Like those taken in 2015 during the Paris Accords, which set global warming to increase to a maximum of 2 degrees and even encouraged not to exceed 1.5 degrees. Or even those of COP26 (2021), unsustainable given the forecasts for 2030.

According to the UN report, the only solution lies in the “rapid transformation of societies” and its report proposes solutions to achieve this. It is up to the states to take it.