UN Gives ‘Truly Damning Report Card’

The world’s governments are failing to phase out fossil fuels fast enough to meet the goals they set out eight years ago in the Paris Agreement, a major UN report shows. The “global stocktake” of climate efforts warns there is a “rapidly narrowing window” to meet the Paris goals of limiting global average temperature increase to 1.5°C (2.7°F) above preindustrial levels, which requires “phasing out of all unabated fossil fuels.” Debates over “phasing out” versus “phasing down” fossil fuels have been controversial at previous COP meetings.

WRI’s Ani Dasgupta was not impressed. “The UN’s polite prose glosses over what is a truly damning report card for global climate efforts,” he said. “Carbon emissions? Still climbing. Rich countries’ finance commitments? Delinquent. Adaptation support? Lagging woefully behind. This report is a wake-up call to the injustice of the climate crisis, and a pivotal opportunity to correct course.” (The Guardian, Washington Post $, AP, New York Times $, BBC, Wall Street Journal $, Bloomberg $, NPR, Politico EU, Vox, The Verge, TIME, E&E $, Reuters, Axios, CNN, FT $)