World unlikely to meet climate goals despite advances in green tech, UN report finds
The goal of limiting global warming to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit — or 1.5 degrees Celsius — is likely out of reach, according to a new United Nations climate report released Monday.
The New York Times reported that humans have already increased global temperatures by an average of 1.1 degrees Celsius since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
"Holding warming to just 1.5 degrees Celsius," the Times notes, "would require nations to collectively reduce their planet-warming emissions roughly 43 percent by 2030," an unlikely outcome given that "current policies ... are only expected to reduce global emissions by a few percentage points this decade."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Last year, a report in the Lancet medical journal compiled by over 100 doctors and health experts concluded that climate change is "the greatest global health threat facing the world in the 21st century," driving increases in heat deaths, insect-borne diseases, flooding, and wildfires.
Per the Times, the assessment, which was compiled by 278 experts from 65 countries and approved by 195 governments, also offers glimmers of hope by acknowledging the rapid growth of green technology and the slower growth rates of global fossil fuel emissions.
Writing for The Week last year, columnist Samuel Goldman despaired over the idea of international climate negotiations making a substantive difference, writing they "are based on a deeply naive understanding of collective action."
"Apart from the legal dimensions of sovereignty, there is no global agency capable of forcing recalcitrant states to accept obligations they don't choose or enforcing those they fail to meet. Australia won't be invaded because it refused a symbolic commitment to ending coal production," Goldman wrote.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.
-
How would we know if World War Three had started?
Today's Big Question Conflicts in Ukraine, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific mean the 'spark' that could ignite all-out war 'already exists'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Death Cafe: where people talk mortality over tea and cake
Why everyone's talking about The meet-ups are intended to offer a judgement-free and respectful space to discuss the end of life
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Mark Menzies: Tories investigate MP after 'bad people' cash claims
Speed Read Fylde MP will sit as an independent while party looks into allegations he misused campaign funds on medical expenses and blackmail pay-out
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Blind people will listen to next week's total eclipse
Speed Read While they can't see the event, they can hear it with a device that translates the sky's brightness into music
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Melting polar ice is messing with global timekeeping
Speed Read Ice loss caused by climate change is slowing the Earth's rotation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Climate change is driving Indian women to choose sterilization
under the radar Faced with losing their jobs, they are making a life-altering decision
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
The hot controversy surrounding solar geoengineering
under the radar Solar geoengineering is feeling the burn
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Citizen science says anyone can be a scientist
The explainer Yes, even you. The practice is being increasingly accepted by researchers as a way to gather data.
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Lab-grown meat might be about to meet its maker
Under the radar The controversy at the intersection of cultured meat and agribusiness
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
What is the Anthropocene — and more importantly, when?
Under The Radar Just because a panel of scientists has rejected calls to classify a new global epoch does not mean it hasn't already begun
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Extreme weather events in the last year
In Depth Extreme weather events are becoming more common thanks to climate change, and are 'affecting every corner of the world'
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published