Last year, atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations scaled new heights, according to a recent report by the United Nations. The announcement coincided with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's expressed concerns about the potential derailment of the upcoming COP26 summit. As the host of COP26, Johnson openly acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding the crucial climate talks. "The outcome is still uncertain... it's a balancing act," he commented, yet he maintained optimism about reaching an agreement to curtail carbon emissions and control future temperature increases. In a revealing move ahead of the conference, Australia, a country heavily reliant on coal, declared its long-awaited 2050 target for net-zero emissions, while noticeably sidestepping any improvements to its 2030 objectives. "We aim to keep our major industries like mining operational and competitive. Our goal is to adapt to ensure their survival as long as the global demand permits," stated Australia's conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Running from October 31 to November 12, the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference is taking place in Glasgow. The UN's World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned that the unabated rise in greenhouse gas emissions would precipitate extreme weather patterns and have sweeping effects on the environment, economy, and human life. The WMO noted that while the economic downturn brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic led to a temporary dip in new emissions, it had negligible impact on the atmospheric levels and growth rates of greenhouse gases. According to the WMO's Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, the rate of increase last year outpaced the yearly average from 2011 to 2020, a trend that has persisted into 2021. The WMO further cautioned that as long as emissions continue unchecked, global temperatures will keep rising. Given the longevity of carbon dioxide (CO2), even if emissions are swiftly cut down to net zero, the current temperature levels will linger for several decades. "WMO's Greenhouse Gas Bulletin delivers a stark scientific fact to the COP26 climate change negotiators," warned Petteri Taalas, the WMO chief.
"We are way off track."
The WMO said that with continued rising greenhouse gas emissions, alongside rising temperatures, the planet could expect more extreme weather.
"We need to revisit our industrial, energy and transport systems and whole way of life. The needed changes are economically affordable and technically possible," said Taalas. "There is no time to lose."
The WMO also said that alarmingly, the southeast part of the Amazon rainforest, long a carbon sink, has now become a source of carbon emissions due to deforestation.
The disaster gets closer
The three major greenhouses gases are CO2, methane and nitrous oxide. CO2 is the most important, accounting for around 66 percent of the warming effect on the climate.
CO2 concentrations reached 413.2 parts per million (ppm) in 2020, up 2.5 ppm, and is at 149 percent of the pre-industrial level in 1750, the WMO said.
Methane averages reached a new high of 1,889 parts per billion in 2020, up 11 ppb on the year before, and is at 262 percent of the pre-industrial benchmark.
Nitrous oxide averages reached 333.2 ppb, up 1.2 ppb, and is now at 123 percent of 1750 levels.
Euan Nisbet, from the University of London's Greenhouse Gas Group, compared the greenhouse gas measurements to "skidding into a car crash."
"The disaster gets closer and closer but you can't stop it. You can clearly see the crash ahead, and all you can do is howl."
Dave Reay, director of the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute, said the report provided a "brutally frank" assessment of COP achievements so far: "An epic fail."
Meanwhile, a decade-old target for rich countries to contribute US$100 billion a year to help poorer ones fight climate change should be attainable in 2023, according to analysis by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The target was meant to have been reached last year, and the failure of developed nations to do so has become a key point of contention heading into Glasgow.
Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler pledged more than US$1 billion for new environmental initiatives on Monday, taking further steps to bolster the environmental credentials of the world's top oil exporter.
And two days after targeting carbon neutrality by 2060, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman promised to contribute 15 percent of US$10.4 billion to fund the "circular carbon economy" and provide "clean fuel" to help feed 750 million people worldwide.
© Agence France-Presse
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