UN climate chief Christiana Figueres put a positive spin on the news that roughly 150 countries have handed in their carbon-slashing commitments ahead of December’s COP21 climate summit in Paris. Together, she says, those plans, covering about 90 per cent of global emissions, “begin to make a significant dent in the growth of greenhouse gases.”
The downside? Those pledges will only curb global warming by about 2.7° Celsius by 2100, according to the UN, or 3.5°C according to climateinteractive.org. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change wants to see planetary warming kept to a max of 2° to minimize potential catastrophic floods, heat waves, droughts, storms and rising sea levels.
Figueres dismisses any suggestion that the UN is attempting to temper expectations for the Paris talks. Regardless, the UN’s climate number- crunching is drawing criticism from both politicians and environmentalists.
At the final pre-Paris climate negotiations in Bonn last month, leaders from the least developed countries (LDC) charged that the world is even further off target than officials are claiming. The LDCs are renewing their call to get the world to pledge to a tougher 1.5° warming target, LDC chair Giza Gaspar-Martins arguing that for 48 of the poorest and most vulnerable countries, “economic development, regional food security and ecosystems are at risk in this 2°C ‘safe zone.’”
Meanwhile, activists in Canada are pushing newly elected PM Justin Trudeau to ratchet up his climate commitments, starting with a sit-in at 24 Sussex beginning Thursday (November 5). They’ll be calling for a freeze on tar sands expansion and bringing Canadian-made solar panels as a handy renovation gift (climatewelcome.ca).
Trudeau declined to set carbon reduction targets on the campaign trail, saying he needs to consult the provinces first – within 90 days of the Paris talks. But he’s promised those targets will fall in line with keeping warming under 2°.
While the UN may not be able to get a hard target out of Canada just yet, Figueres says the Paris climate pledges shouldn’t be considered the final word on carbon slashing targets. She’s lobbying to have global signatories, Canada included, agree to update their emissions reductions goals every five years.
Here’s hoping a trip to Paris is just what Trudeau needs to muster the mojo to shift this country toward a truly clean, green sustainable future.
ecoholic@nowtoronto.com | @ecoholicnation
