PBB: Global Greenhouse Gas Emissions In 2024 Reach Highest Record

ILLUSTRATION OF UNSPLASH/Collab Media

JAKARTA - The UN report on Tuesday stated that global greenhouse gas emissions in 2024 will increase by 2.3 percent to a record high of 57.7 billion tons.

The emission is still far from a target set in the 2015 Paris climate agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and the organization warns temperatures could rise to 2.8 degrees in the century unless there are quick measures to address them.

Even if all countries involved in the Paris agreement achieve their CO2 reduction target by 2035, the global temperature is projected to rise by 2.3 to 2.5 degrees C, according to a UN Environmental Program report.

"This will be difficult to reverse -- requiring faster and larger additional reductions to greenhouse gas emissions to minimize excess emissions" and reduce damage to life and the economy, the report warned.

If the United States officially withdraws from the agreement, the temperature could potentially rise by an additional 0.1 degrees, the report said.

China has the highest emission expenditure in 2024, which is 15.6 billion tons. The United States follows with 5.9 billion tons, India with 4.4 billion tons, the European Union with 3.2 billion tons, and Russia with 2.6 billion tons.

Reported by ANTARA from Kyodo-OANA, the group of 20 countries with a large economy (G20), excluding the African Union, accounts for 77 percent of the total emissions and more ambitious actions demanded by member countries.

However, given the required reduction scale and the remaining time to achieve it, the average global temperature is very likely to exceed 1.5 deg C in the next decade.

A 55 percent reduction from its 2019 rate is needed in 2035 to limit heating to 1.5 degC.

However, even though all countries meet their current targets, the reduction is projected to only reach around 15 percent, according to the report.

"During the 10 years of the Paris Agreement, there has been a sizeable drop in temperature," the report said.

"Therefore, the international community should accelerate climate action... However, the political will to do so is still lacking," the report continued.

Now, the focus will turn to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, known as COP30, in Brazil this month, regarding whether discussions there can result in strengthening measures.