Together, Stiell said, they reveal “some green shoots of good news“and provide”Clear steps towards net zero emissions.”
If countries keep their current pledges, global emissions could fall by around 10 percent by 2035, according to the UN climate chief. However, he warned that “action must be accelerated” to avoid further global warming.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, flooding in the capital Kinshasa has been linked to climate change. (archive)
Holistic approach
Many of the new NDCs take a “whole of society” approach, incorporating gender and youth perspectives and seeking to ensure that all sectors benefit from the shift to a low-carbon economy.
Stiell described this generation of commitments as a “A radical change in quality, credibility and economic breadth.”, calling on governments to implement policies that allow all nations to share the benefits of clean energy and climate resilience.
The UN climate chief added that the private sector is also moving in the right direction, attracted by the enormous rewards that the clean economy promises: “As the global shift towards clean energy continues to escalate, The dividends to come will be much greater as climate action emerges as the engine of 21st century economic growth and jobs..”
In the photograph of a woman in front of flooded fields in Bentiu, South Sudan.
Is 1.5 still alive?
On the same day as the climate report was published, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in an interview with The Guardian that humanity has failed to limit man-made global warming to a totemic 1.5ºC, which has had “devastating consequences.”
Guterres told reporters that delegates preparing to attend the COP30 United Nations Climate Conference in Belém, Brazil, in November must change course and achieve a “drastic decrease in emissions as soon as possible.”
However, Stiell insisted that science shows that temperatures can drop back to 1.5°C (above pre-industrial levels), substantially accelerating the pace of climate action.