Australian emissions to 'far exceed' 2030 Paris pledge as need for action rises: UN

National pledges to cut carbon emissions fall well short of what's needed to avoid dangerous climate change, with Australia likely to miss its 2030 commitment by a wide margin, a United Nations body said.

National pledges to cut emissions so far fall far short
of what's needed to hit the Paris climate goals, the UN says.

The UN Environment Programme's Emissions Gap 2017 report found pledges to cut pollution made at the Paris climate summit two years ago are only about one-third of what's needed to be on a "least-cost pathway" to stopping the worst effects of climate change.

The target is to stop global average temperatures rising two degrees or more above pre-industrial levels. Change on the scale is expected to cause major droughts, food shortages and damaging sea level rise.

The emissions gap to keep with a 1.5-degree goal is 16-19 gigatonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent, while the 2-degree target would need an extra 11.13.5 gigatonnes of CO2-e of cuts by 2030 to be attained, the report said.

Read Peter Hannam’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Australian emissions to 'far exceed' 2030 Paris pledge as need for action rises: UN.”