Greenhouse Gas Emissions Must Be Cut to Meet 2020 Goals, UN Warns

The world is quickly running out of time to enact the changes necessary to prevent global temperatures from rising 2 degrees Celsius or more from preindustrial levels, considered a key threshold in staving off the worst climate change has to offer.

This was the warning sounded in a report issued by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Tuesday.

According to the document, even if nations meet their current climate pledges, 2020 greenhouse gas emissions are likely to exceed by 8-10 billion tons a 2010 goal set to prevent this two-degree shift.

"As the report highlights, delayed actions means a higher rate of climate change in the near term and likely more near-term climate impacts, as well as the continued use of carbon-intensive and energy-intensive infrastructure," UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said in a statement. "This 'lock-in' would slow down the introduction of climate-friendly technologies and narrow the developmental choices that would place the global community on the path to a sustainable, green future."

However, Steiner argues that the 2020 target can still be reached "by strengthening current pledges and by further action, including scaling up international cooperation initiatives in areas such as energy efficiency, fossil fuel subsidy reform and renewable energy."

Global gas emissions for 2010, the last year for which data is available, tipped the scales at 50.1 billion tons of C02 equivalent (GtCO2e), and are estimated to reach 58 GtCO2e by 2020 based on a business-as-usual scenario. 

The report comes ahead of a UN conference in Poland next week where delegates from more than 190 countries will come together to discuss the creation of a new climate pact outlining emission cuts.

"As we head towards Warsaw for the latest round of climate negotiations, there is a real need for increased ambition by all countries: ambition which can take countries further and faster towards bridging the emissions gap and a sustainable future for all," said Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. "However, increased national ambition will not be enough to meet the scientific realities of climate change, which is one reason why a universal new agreement -- able to catalyze international cooperation -- is urgently needed by 2015."