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  • Transcriber: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Joanna Pietrulewicz

  • In November 2015, 197 countries came together in Paris

  • and agreed to pursue efforts

  • to limit the temperature increase on our planet to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

  • The Climate Action Tracker monitors the climate commitments

  • and actions of 36 countries,

  • totalling roughly 80 percent of today's global greenhouse gas emissions.

  • Here's the bad news: those emissions are still rising

  • and have already warmed the globe by 1.1 degrees Celsius.

  • The tracker makes two problems clear.

  • First, countries have not set emissions targets

  • ambitious enough to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement.

  • Even if every country hit their targets, the temperature would still increase

  • by more than two degrees Celsius over the next 70 years,

  • and continue to rise into the 22nd century and beyond.

  • Second, governments are simply not delivering

  • even on their unambitious targets.

  • Everything these 36 countries have done so far,

  • and everything they are currently planning,

  • will only slow the growth in emissions.

  • We need to do more than that.

  • To have a hope of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees,

  • we need to cut global emissions in half by 2030 and get to net zero by 2050.

  • Let's go through the numbers.

  • Of the 36 countries analyzed,

  • only two are taking enough action to restrain global warming to 1.5 degrees.

  • The Gambia has pledged to reduce its emissions,

  • despite being one of the developing countries

  • that has contributed least to the problem.

  • And Morocco is building more and more solar power.

  • Every other country is failing.

  • 2020 is the year national governments were supposed to come together

  • and strengthen their targets.

  • So far, only a few have done so while others have announced

  • they're sticking with their existing insufficient targets.

  • Now, some countries aren't too far behind The Gambia and Morocco,

  • such as India and Kenya.

  • But the countries with the most advanced economies,

  • those with the greatest capacity to innovate and help others,

  • are shirking their responsibilities to lead.

  • The United States is currently withdrawing from the Paris Agreement.

  • China shows promise;

  • its pledge to balance out its carbon emissions by 2060

  • could save the world as much as 0.3 degrees Celsius of global warming.

  • But actions on the ground remain divided.

  • China is the largest market for wind and solar power,

  • but also for new coal-fired power plants.

  • And the EU is taking steps in the right direction

  • with its green deal to make member countries more sustainable.

  • But this deal is still not enough for 1.5 degrees.

  • So are there any signs of hope?

  • One key measure is a country's willingness to clean up electricity.

  • Clean power can enable other sectors to reduce or eliminate emissions.

  • More than 50 countries, 30 regions, 160 cities and 200 businesses

  • have committed to 100 percent clean electricity.

  • Denmark, Scotland and the state of South Australia

  • are almost there already,

  • but much of the world still needs to commit to, and accelerate,

  • this energy transition.

  • There's more good news in the transportation sector.

  • More than 20 countries, five regions, 50 cities and 60 businesses

  • have already committed to 100 percent emission-free cars,

  • motorcycles and buses.

  • Norway is mandating the end of all sales of fossil fuel cars by 2025.

  • Meanwhile, the US is allowing companies

  • to make cars that don't travel as far on a gallon of gas,

  • rolling back fuel efficiency standards.

  • Other sectors, such as steel and cement-making

  • or aviation and shipping,

  • are even further behind and trickier to clean up.

  • But some steel and cement companies are developing carbon-free production,

  • and Norway and Scotland are targeting carbon-free short-haul flights.

  • In November 2015, 197 countries came together in Paris

  • and set targets to fight climate change.

  • These targets were already insufficient to reach the stated goal

  • of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius,

  • and most are not on track to achieve even their own inadequate targets.

  • We need more ambitious targets and much more ambitious actions.

  • In the next decade, we need to transform key sectors of the global economy

  • in order to reduce emissions.

  • These changes will be difficult but not impossible,

  • because they will also bring enormous opportunities

  • like creating millions of jobs.

  • And don't lose track of this key point:

  • such a transformation will also mean cleaner air

  • and a safer, more stable climate for all.

Transcriber: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Joanna Pietrulewicz

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