Countries should enhance their efforts and ambitions to achieve climate goals: UN

The 110 out of 191 countries who have signed up for the Paris agreement have submitted new or updated nationally determined contributions(NDC) that will be included in the synthesis report. The UN's Executive Secretary of Climate Change Patricia Espinosa has asked the countries to enhance their level of ambition needed in achieving the national climate action plan. Only just over half of the countries that are party to the accord have met the cut-off deadline. 

Countries must enhance their efforts to achieve national climate plan

Patricia Espinosa in her statement informed that one of the key findings in the initial version of the synthesis report showed that in spite of collective efforts, it will not be possible to limit the rise in global temperature rise by the end of the century. She expressed that the countries need to increase their efforts needed to achieve the national climate action plan. The main aim of the Paris Agreement is to keep a global average temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius. The UN aims to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. In order to meet that goal, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has indicated that by the end of this decade emissions must have been reduced by at least 45% compared to the 2010 level. 

UN's Executive Secretary of Climate Change hoped that the revised estimate of collective efforts will reveal a more positive picture. Espinosa called on all the countries that were unable to meet this deadline to redouble their efforts and honour their commitment under the Paris Agreement to renew or update their nationally determined contributions(NDC). Espinosa encouraged the countries that have submitted their NDCs to continue reviewing and increase their level of ambition. 

IMAGE: PEspinosaC/Twitter