Greenhouse gases levels in the atmosphere, the main driver of climate change, hit a record high last year, the UN, calling for swift action to safeguard “the future welfare of mankind.”
“There is no sign of a slowdown, let alone a decline, in greenhouse gases concentration in the atmosphere despite all the commitments under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change,” the head of the Meteorological Organization Petteri Taalas said in a statement.
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Global emissions of greenhouse gases are responsible for global warming and are growing rather than declining. Even if all countries meet the commitments made at the Paris conference in 2015, GHG emissions will be more.
India is among the few countries that are on track to meeting their Paris targets (called ‘nationally determined contributions’ or NDCs).
“There is no sign of GHG emissions peaking (or stopping to rise and begin declining) in the next few years; every year of postponed peaking means that deeper and faster cuts will be required. By 2030, emissions would need to be 25% and 55% lower than in 2018 to put the world on the least-cost pathway to limiting global warming to below 2˚C and 1.5°C, respectively,” the report says.