London — The UN climate science panel’s report Monday, the last of the current scientific assessment cycle, finds that emissions are still rising with the world at risk for runaway climate change.The world has not yet managed to reduce its emissions output, hitting about 59 gigatonnes in 2019 when changes in land use are taken into account. That’s a 12% jump from global 2010 emissions of 52.5 gigatonnes, or an average increase of 1.3% each year during the last decade.
Current emissions trajectories, if unchanged, put the planet on a path to warm by about 3.2°C . If current national climate commitments are enacted, they still would fail to limit warming to 1.5ºC , instead putting the world on track for at least 2.2ºC if not more, the report says. Cities would need to improve energy efficiency through better building strategies to reduce urban emissions.Containing warming to 2ºC would require actions that limit global economic growth by 1.3% to 2.7% by 2050, the report says. However, that loss would likely be outweighed by the overall economic benefit of limiting warming, it says.
Such “demand-side mitigation” efforts could reduce global greenhouse gas emissions in some sectors by up to 70% by 2050, the report says.A few bright spots are highlighted in the report, including the increasing affordability of climate-friendly technologies.