Need course correction now to keep 1.5 degree C alive: UN Climate chief

Observing that the goal is not lost yet, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) executive secretary Simon Stiell on Friday said that there is a need for course correction to keep the 1.5 degrees Celcius goal alive.

A Grenadian politician who took charge of the UNFCCC in August last year was answering HT’s question at the World Sustainable Development Summit (organised by The Energy and Resources Institute) on whether the 1.5 degrees C goal is redundant now.

“It’s not a lost goal (1.5 degrees C). Science shows where we are but the same science and numerous expert groups also tell us what we need to do to bring it on track. Time is running out very rapidly. So, the urgency of appropriate action is more intense now than it ever has been. The GST [global stocktake of the Paris Agreement] gives us an opportunity to course correct. How we develop and land the GST could be an important part to lay the foundation for that course correction. The response to it will be most important,” said Stiell responding to HT’s question.

The global stocktake of the Paris Agreement is a process for taking stock of the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement’s goal is to keep global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees C.

Later in the day, during his valedictory address at WSDS’s concluding session, Stiell said the world was heading towards over 2.5 degrees C. “Much of the ambition in the global stocktake will be about emissions reductions. We know we’re way off target. We are heading for warming of 2.5 degrees C or more, with disastrous consequences. We need stronger emissions commitments across the board. I am not going to stand up here and call endlessly for new nationally determined contributions (NDCs). We need specifics. We need countries to come forward on how they are going to align every element of national life to their Paris commitments. As a former minister, I know this can be tricky but with the political will, it’s not rocket science,” he said.

He added that the next ten months leading up to COP28 provide a unique opportunity for “course correction, the world needs on climate change and make COP28 a transformational moment in what must be a decisive decade.”

The COP28 is scheduled to take place in Dubai in December this year.

Stiell further committed to providing an update from the UNFCCC on the status of work, mandates and progress each quarter to COP28. The first such progress report will be provided at the end of March. He also requested progress from all governments on all initiatives that came out of the recent United Nations meetings on climate change.

Seeks update on CO2, methane:

“We collectively need the support of all the coalitions, alliances and initiatives that are driven by state and non-state actors in order to achieve our goals on resilience and limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees,” Stiell said.

“I want to know, where are you on methane? Forests? Coal? Solar? Zero emission vehicles? How are your alliances progressing work in these areas and how will you be delivering at COP28? Closing the massive gaps in each of the major work areas– mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage and finance– requires unprecedented collaboration and support at the highest levels,” Stiell said adding the stocktake will not be just another synthesis report telling us what we already know and instead take a sectoral approach.

“I’ll lay my cards on the table: the success of COP28 depends on the success of the global stocktake, or more specifically the response to the stocktake,” he said.