UN Secretary-General Urges "Immediate, Swift, and Large-Scale Greenhouse Gas Reductions"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] Ant?nio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), on the 16th (local time) urged for the "immediate, rapid, and large-scale" reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to prevent climate disasters.

In a report titled "United by Science 2021," Secretary-General Guterres stated, as reported by the Associated Press, that "climate change is progressing faster than expected, and fossil fuel emissions have already rebounded from the decline caused by the pandemic."

He pointed out that extreme weather events such as Hurricane Ida in the United States, floods in Western Europe including Germany, and heatwaves in the Northwest Pacific region demonstrate that no country is safe from climate-related disasters, warning that "these changes are just the beginning of worse things to come."

He appealed to governments worldwide, saying, "Unless greenhouse gas emissions are reduced immediately, rapidly, and on a large scale, we cannot limit global warming to 1.5 degrees," urging them to achieve the goals of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

According to the report, which involved multiple UN-affiliated scientific organizations, greenhouse gas emissions peaked in 2019 and decreased by 5.6% last year due to COVID-19 related restrictions.

However, emissions have increased again this year, and excluding emissions from air and maritime transport, the average emissions from January to July were nearly the same as in 2019.

In particular, concentrations of major greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide continued to rise during 2020 and the first half of 2021.

The report also estimated that the global average surface temperature from 2017 to June this year was 1.06 to 1.26 degrees higher than pre-industrial levels (1850?1900), emphasizing the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.