U.N. Report Is Clear: Bold Climate Action Is Needed Now

November 26, 2019—Today, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released its tenth Emissions Gap Report, and the news is grim: without immediate and sustained action, the planet could be 3.9 degrees Celsius (7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer by the end of the century. The report looks at global trends in greenhouse gas emissions, and how they compare to emission reduction targets: the difference between the two is the gap we must close. According to the report, that gap has become larger over the past year, in part because of spikes in emissions from the world’s two largest emitters, China and the United States.

“The U.N. report’s findings are bleak,” said EESI Executive Director Daniel Bresette. “The United States and other countries are failing to rein in greenhouse gas emissions, which means that we need to make even deeper and faster cuts if we want to curb climate change. We need to step up our commitments, and do so now. There are policy options available to us today that would have an immediate impact. In fact, we have just laid out an achievable set of policy recommendations to the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.

“We could double R&D spending on clean energy and energy efficiency. We could set targets to cut wasted energy in federal buildings for the next decade. We could restore ambitious fuel economy targets for 2022-2025 model cars and trucks. We could facilitate financing for home energy upgrades, to make clean energy and energy efficiency more affordable to households across the country.

"We face a staggering cost—human, economic, and environmental—from delay. Failure to take bold action is only going to make things more difficult and more expensive later, as we face the escalating impacts of climate change.”

According to the report, countries will need to increase their Paris Agreement commitments threefold to keep warming well below 2 degrees Celsius, and fivefold to hit the 1.5°C goal. This translates to reducing emissions by 2.7 percent per year (for 2°C) or 7.6 percent per year (for 1.5°C) starting next year. For perspective, greenhouse gas emissions have risen by 1.5 percent per year over the last decade, with only a brief period of stabilization between 2014 and 2016.

“We are already experiencing the impacts of climate change: sea levels are rising and extreme weather is becoming more frequent and more dangerous,” said Daniel Bresette. “Things are likely to get worse before they get better, so we must also invest in resilience and adaptation. We need to prepare our communities, especially the most vulnerable ones, to face climate impacts as we simultaneously transition to a carbon-free economy.”

Emissions Gap Report 2019, United Nations Environment Programme

EESI Recommendations to the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis