The COVID-19 pandemic put a halt in the pace of development across the globe. The economic activities have been greatly impacted in the last two years as a result of this. While in this time, there was a sure fall of carbon emissions, a new report has revealed that even so, 2021 is set to become “the fifth to seventh-warmest year on record.”
According to a global climate report published by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in Geneva on October 31, 2021, the sea-level rise reached a new high in 2021. The report was prepared with inputs from multiple United Nations (UN) agencies, national meteorological and hydrological services as well as experts. WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said: “Extreme events are the new norm (and) there is mounting scientific evidence that some of these bear the footprint of human-induced climate change.”
No Strong Commitments on Climate at G20 Meet
The big economies in the G20 represent about 80 per cent of the world’s emissions. However, in the recently concluded G20 summit held in Rome, Italy, no time-bound agreements were reached with respect to climate action. Instead, the commitment to providing $100 billion a year to combat climate change was made.
Hope for Better Conclusion for Climate Change in Glasgow
While the G20 summit failed to deliver a firm stance on climate change, it is hoped that this will not be the case at COP26 as the heads of the G20 countries will face their counterparts of countries that are more impacted because of climate change.
“Scientists are clear on the facts. Now leaders need to be just as clear in their actions,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. He added: “The door is open; the solutions are there. The 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (CoP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) must be a turning point for people and the planet.”
He further said, “The provisional WMO State of the Global Climate 2021 report draws from the latest scientific evidence to show how our planet is changing before our eyes. From the ocean depths to mountain tops, from melting glaciers to relentless extreme weather events, ecosystems and communities around the globe are being devastated.”
WMO Secretary-General has warned that at the current rate of increase in greenhouse gas concentrations, the world will see a temperature rise by the end of this century higher than what the Paris Agreement, 2015, targets. He has said, “CoP26 is a make-or-break opportunity to put us back on track.”
