International
Climate plans would allow up to 2.6C of global warming: UN
| By AFP | Patrick Galey |
Country climate pledges leave the world on track to heat by as much as 2.6 degrees Celsius this century, the United Nations said on Wednesday, warning that emissions must fall 45 percent this decade to limit disastrous global warming.
The United Nations Environment Programme, in its annual Emissions Gap report, found that updated national promises since last year’s COP26 summit in Glasgow would only shave less than one percent off global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
The world has warmed nearly 1.2C since the start of the Industrial Revolution and already faces increasingly ferocious climate-enhanced weather extremes like heatwaves, storms and floods.
The Emissions Gap report examines the difference between the planet-heating pollution that will still be released under countries’ decarbonisation plans and what science says is needed to keep to the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to between 1.5-2.0C.
A day after the UN’s climate change agency said governments were still doing “nowhere near” enough to keep global heating to 1.5C, UNEP found progress on emissions cutting had been “woefully inadequate”.
It said that additional pledges made since the COP26 summit in Glasgow last year would not even cut emissions by one percent by 2030.
Failure left the world “hurtling towards” a temperature rise far in excess of the Paris goals, it added.
“It’s another year squandered in terms of actually doing something about the problem,” the report’s lead author, Anne Olhoff, told AFP.
“That’s not to say that all nations have not taken this seriously. But from a global perspective, it’s definitely very far from adequate.”
The report found that in order for temperature rises to be capped at 2C, emissions would need to fall 30 percent faster by 2030 than envisioned under countries’ most up-to-date plans.
To limit heating to 1.5C, the gap is 45 percent.
Under the 2015 Paris deal, countries are required to submit ever deeper emission cutting plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs.
UNEP found that “unconditional” NDCs — which countries plan regardless of external support — would probably lead to Earth’s average temperature rising by 2.6C by 2100. Scientists warn that level would be catastrophic for humanity and for nature.
Conditional NDCs — which rely on international funding to achieve — would probably lead to a 2.4C temperature rise this century, it said.
All told, current plans are likely to see a five- to 10-percent reduction in emissions by 2030 — a far cry from the drop of nearly 50 percent required for 1.5C.
‘Missed opportunity’
UNEP said that in 2020, carbon pollution fell more than seven percent, largely thanks to Covid-19 lockdowns and travel restrictions. A fall of that magnitude is needed every year this decade to stay on track for 1.5C.
But it said greenhouse gas emissions in 2021 could end up being the highest on record — some 52.8 billion tonnes — because countries threw themselves into fossil-fuelled pandemic recoveries.
“We see a full bounce-back in emissions after Covid,” said Olhoff.
“It’s a missed opportunity in terms of utilising these unprecedented recovery funds to accelerate a green transition.”
Separately, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday it believed global energy emissions would peak in 2025 as surging oil and gas prices spurred a drive to renewables.
But UNEP said that while the switch to greener tech in the power sector was accelerating, several industries were lagging behind in the push towards net-zero emissions.
For example, in the food sector, which is responsible for around a third of emissions, dietary changes and cutting food loss could help reduce the sector’s footprint by more than 30 percent by 2050.
‘Avoid as much damage as possible’
Olhoff said the financial sector was “part of the problem rather than part of the solution” to climate change, with hundreds of billions funnelled annually to fossil fuel projects.
UNEP suggested the introduction of an effective carbon price under a global cap and trade system that would push investors to consider the environmental impact of their portfolios.
It also called for central banks to make more funds available and help create global low-carbon technology markets.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Thursday’s report showed the world “cannot afford any more greenwashing”.
“Commitments to net zero are worth zero without the plans, policies and actions to back it up,” he said in a video message.
Last year the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that the world was likely to reach and even exceed 1.5C within decades, no matter how quickly emissions fall in the short term.
Olhoff said that for every year that passed without significant emissions cuts, 1.5C was getting “less realistic and less feasible”.
But she insisted that governments needed to accelerate the green transition to avoid as much damage as possible.
“The more we learn, it’s absolutely clear that we should aim to get (temperature rises) as low as possible,” Olhoff said.
“Even if that means 1.6C instead of 1.5C, that’s definitely better than 2C degrees, just as 1.7C is worse than 1.6C.”
International
Senate Bipartisan Vote Moves Measure to Block Further U.S. Military Action in Venezuela
The U.S. Senate took a significant step on Thursday toward limiting President Donald Trump’s military authority in Venezuela, advancing a bipartisan war powers resolution that would block further military actions without explicit congressional approval, lawmakers said.
In a 52-47 procedural vote, the measure moved forward after five Republican senators joined all Democrats in supporting the effort. The resolution aims to require presidential authorization from Congress before the United States can engage in any new hostilities against Venezuela, a rare rebuke of Trump from both sides of the aisle following the controversial military operation that resulted in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
If ultimately passed, the legislation would obligate the administration to withdraw U.S. forces from any imminent hostilities in or against Venezuela unless Congress explicitly authorizes such actions. However, the measure’s future remains uncertain as it heads next to the House of Representatives, where a Republican majority is less likely to approve it, and any final version would likely face a presidential veto. Overriding a veto would require a two-thirds majority in both chambers, a high threshold in the current political landscape.
President Trump has sharply criticized Republican senators who broke ranks to support the resolution, saying they should not be re-elected and arguing that the measure undermines his authority to act in national defense. Nevertheless, the vote signals growing bipartisan concern in Congress about unchecked executive military action in the absence of legislative authorization.
International
Petro and Trump Agree on Joint Action Against ELN Guerrillas After Tense Diplomacy
Colombian President Gustavo Petro and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump agreed on “joint actions” to combat the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group operating along the Colombia–Venezuela border, Colombia’s Interior Minister Armando Benedetti said on Thursday.
The announcement came after a period of heightened diplomatic tension triggered by recent U.S. airstrikes in Venezuela, the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and threats of possible U.S. military action in Colombia. The phone call Wednesday evening was the first direct conversation between Petro and Trump since both leaders took office, and it helped ease the strained relationship.
During the call, both presidents committed to carry out joint efforts against the ELN, a guerrilla group that has repeatedly attacked Colombian security forces and is accused of kidnapping soldiers. In December, the ELN declared a “armed strike,” confining civilians in areas under its control in response to perceived threats of U.S. intervention.
According to Benedetti, Petro welcomed Trump’s invitation to meet in Washington and asked for U.S. support to “strike hard” against ELN positions along the porous border with Venezuela, where guerrillas often flee after clashes with Colombian forces.
The border region is a longstanding flashpoint, where armed groups, drug traffickers and illegal mining networks compete for control. Previous attempts by Petro’s government to negotiate peace with the ELN have stalled after a major offensive in Catatumbo that left hundreds dead and displaced thousands.
International
Lula Vetoes Bill That Would Have Shortened Bolsonaro’s Prison Sentence
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva vetoed on Thursday a bill that would have significantly reduced the prison sentence of his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently serving time for attempting a coup d’état.
Despite the veto, the conservative-majority Congress retains the power to override the decision through a vote.
In September, following a landmark trial, Brazil’s Supreme Court sentenced Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison after finding him guilty of conspiring to remain in power in an “authoritarian” manner following his defeat to Lula in the 2022 presidential election.
The 70-year-old former president has been incarcerated in a Brasília prison since late November. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court rejected a request for house arrest on health grounds.
Under the current legal framework, Bolsonaro would be required to serve approximately eight years before becoming eligible for sentence leniency. However, a bill passed by Congress in December could have reduced that period to just over two years, prompting Lula’s veto.
Senate Bipartisan Vote Moves Measure to Block Further U.S. Military Action in Venezuela
Petro and Trump Agree on Joint Action Against ELN Guerrillas After Tense Diplomacy
Lula Vetoes Bill That Would Have Shortened Bolsonaro’s Prison Sentence
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
-
International3 days agoU.S. faces worst flu season in decades as new strain spreads nationwide
-
Central America3 days agoEl Salvador reports safest year in its history, security cabinet says
-
International3 days agoFlorida’s ‘Tidal Wave’ operation detains 10,400 migrants in largest ICE joint effort
-
International3 days agoDelcy Rodríguez, key figure in U.S.-Venezuela transition, remains under EU sanctions
-
International3 days agoU.S. Energy Secretary to meet oil executives on reviving Venezuela’s crude industry
-
International3 days agoMaduro, Delcy Rodríguez sued in Florida over alleged kidnapping, torture and terrorism
-
International3 days agoChina urges immediate release of Maduro, seeks emergency UN security council meeting
-
International3 days agoColombia to maintain anti-drug cooperation with U.S. after Trump remarks
-
International4 days agoMarco Rubio warns Cuba could be Trump administration’s next target
-
International1 day agoBeijing Says International Support Strengthens Its Position on Taiwan Sovereignty Issue
-
International3 days agoColombia says border with Venezuela remains calm after U.S. arrest of Maduro
-
International5 hours agoPetro and Trump Agree on Joint Action Against ELN Guerrillas After Tense Diplomacy
-
International5 hours ago
Trump Signals Extended U.S. Influence Over Venezuela Following Military Operation
-
International23 hours agoJustice Department Misses Deadline as Millions of Epstein Files Remain Under Review
-
International5 hours agoLula Vetoes Bill That Would Have Shortened Bolsonaro’s Prison Sentence
-
International5 hours agoSenate Bipartisan Vote Moves Measure to Block Further U.S. Military Action in Venezuela