Earth Today | Scaled-up climate action a now imperative – report
Published:Thursday | October 10, 2024 | 12:07 AM
AS THE next round of international climate negotiations (COP29) approaches and evidence of a worsening climate crisis presses in, countries have been reminded of the need for urgent and ambitious actions to achieve a sustainable future.
“Over the 2011-2020 decade, human activities associated with the emissions of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have unequivocally caused global warming, with global surface temperature reaching 1.1 degrees Celsius above 1850-1900 levels. GHG emissions increased by 1.2 per cent from 2021 to 2022, reaching a record of 57.4 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent,” reads a section of the 2024 United in Science report, compiled by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
“Emissions of methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and fluorinated gases, which have higher global warming potentials and account for about one quarter of current GHG emissions, are also increasing rapidly. Fluorinated gas emissions grew in 2022 by 5.5 per cent, followed by CH4 at 1.8 per cent and N2O at 0.9 per cent,” added the report, which provides an update on the state of climate science.
As emissions increase, so too atmospheric concentrations of GHGs that fuel climate change and trigger impacts such as the warming of the planet, extreme hurricane and other events, and rising sea levels – with implications for public health and the viability of the economies, among other risks and threats.
At the same time, the report said “current and historical GHG emissions vary significantly across regions, countries and groups of countries, reflecting patterns of global inequality and varying progress on climate change”.
“For example, globally, the 10 per cent of the population with the highest income accounted for nearly half (48 per cent) of emissions, with two-thirds of this group living in developed countries, while the bottom 50 per cent of the world population contributed only12 per cent of total emissions,” the report explained.
“Additionally, nearly 80 per cent of historical cumulative fossil and land use, land-use change and forestry CO2 emissions came from G20 countries, with the largest contributions from China, the United States of America and the European Union, while least developed countries contributed only four per cent,” the report added.
Against this background, the report has said that it is necessary that scientific reporting on these emissions be prioritised in order to support effective interventions and to track mitigation targets.
The report has also championed attention to enhancing not only the quality, but also the accessibility, and making best use, of data.
“Reliable, transparent and easily accessible data, including Earth observation data, lie at the heart of scientific and technological transformation and can bridge global technological disparities,” suggested the report, whose contributing partners include the Met Office UK, the Official Children and Youth Constituency of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, WMO Global Atmosphere Watch, WMO World Weather Research Programme, World Climate Research Programme, and Global Carbon Project.
Other contributing partners include the United Nations Environment Programme, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, International Telecommunication Union, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, International Science Council, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and Future Earth.
“International cooperation can help close data gaps, improving the availability and quality of data, while robust governance mechanisms can enhance access to data by enabling the free and unrestricted exchange of data. Additionally, the seamless integration of data from different public and private sources can improve data interoperability and empower diverse actors to leverage real-time insights, in an effort to drive substantial progress towards global goals,” the report said.