National plans for the extraction of fossil fuels remain incompatible with the climate targets set out in the Paris Agreement. As indicated in a report by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) published on Wednesday, October 20, the signatory states, despite increased climate ambitions and commitments to zero CO2 emissions, still plan to extract more than double the fossil fuel by 2030. fuel than is actually possible to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees.
“Governments are planning production volumes that are far beyond what we can safely burn,” says Ploy Achakulvisut, lead author of the study, Stockholm Environment Institute scientist. According to the researcher, by 2030, governments intend to extract “about 110 percent more fossil fuels than would be compatible with a warming limit of 1.5 degrees, and 45 percent more than a temperature limit of two degrees.”
The report provides overviews of 15 leading manufacturing countries, including Germany, India, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United States. According to the authors of the report, “most of the governments of these countries continue to provide significant political support for the production of fossil fuels.”
The window of opportunity closes
“The devastating effects of climate change are in full view. There is still time to contain long-term warming to around 1.5 degrees Celsius, but that window of opportunity is closing quickly,” said UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen.
Adopted in 2015 under the auspices of the UN, the Paris Climate Agreement proclaims the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preventing the global average annual temperature on the planet from rising by more than two degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels by 2100, as well as taking measures to keep warming within 1, 5 degrees.
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