Global lockdown helped to reduce carbon emissions!?
Despite a dip in greenhouse gas emissions from the COVID-19 economic slowdown, the world is still heading for a catastrophic temperature rise above 3°C this century – far beyond the goals of the Paris Agreement. (UNEP report, 2020)
But UNEP's Emissions Gap points to hope in a green pandemic recovery and growing commitments to net-zero emissions. Can we catch up on climate action?
We have seen a drop in the emissions this year because of the COVID crisis and lockdowns in many countries ... but this is not going to change the big picture," Petteri Taalas, head of the World Meteorological Organization, a U.N. agency based in Geneva, told Reuters Television.
The COVID-19 lockdowns helped to reduce emissions by 17% in April.
But overall, the long-term buildup of greenhouse gases remains unaffected.
A new study has found carbon dioxide levels are at the highest they have been in 3 million years.
