There’s a “Catastrophic Climate Gap” Between Countries’ Commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement and the Emissions Reductions Required to Avoid the Worst Consequences of Global Warming — UNEP Report

Agriculture can also help close the emissions gap

A 2015 reportfrom the US-based Union of Concerned Scientistsshows that the land sector – global agriculture and forests – can make a large contribution to closing the gap.

According to the IPCC, more than half of agricultural emissions come from livestock, particularly methane-emitting ruminants such as cattle.

While every country can contribute something to the effort to close the gap, the reportidentifies eight countries with large climate mitigation potential.

Each country’s mitigation formula will need to emphasize different opportunities – reducing emissions from the forest sector (Indonesia); increasing sequestration (Brazil); dietary shifts and food waste reduction (the United States and, to a lesser extent, the European Union); and increased efficiency in crop and livestock production (India and China).

Additional support is also needed to halt deforestation in developing countries with high forest cover. Saving forests not only helps fight climate change but can also reduce poverty, protecting the 1.6 million people globally who depend on forests for their livelihoods.

A quick win

Enormous amounts of carbon are released into the atmosphere when forests are cleared. Activities such as selective logging and drainage of carbon-rich peat swamps are also significant emissions sources.

Protecting forests, including mangroves, makes climate action cheaper and faster. We need to build the political case for this across all countries.

“The Emissions Gap Report once again underscores the urgency of redoubling our efforts to reduce emissions,” says UN Environment climate change expert Niklas Hagelberg.

“It shows that solutions exist, and if they are adopted quickly we can turn our current situation around. But with each year we wait, we make our ability to limit dangerous climate change more difficult, risky and costly.

*SOURCE: UN ENVIRONMENT. Go to ORIGINAL.  2018 Human Wrongs Watch