“The climate we experience in the future depends on our decisions now.” climate science report, told the United Nations on Tuesday. “Every ton of carbon dioxide emissions adds to global warming,” French climate scientist Valerie Masson-Delmotte, who co-chaired an August U.N. That’s closer but still above the less stringent target agreed upon in the Paris climate accord of capping global warming at 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) compared to pre-industrial times. It concluded that recent announcements by dozens of countries to aim for “net-zero” emissions by 2050 could, if fully implemented, limit a global temperature rise to 2.2 degrees Celsius (4 F). Environment Programme found fresh pledges by governments to cut emissions are raising hopes but aren’t strict enough to keep global warming from exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century. “But leaders can still make this a turning point to a greener future instead of a tipping point to climate catastrophe. “The emissions gap is the result of a leadership gap,” Guterres said.
