Strong ambition needed to meet 1.5C #ParisAgreement Target #COP22

According to the latest Climate Action Tracker assessment of national climate plans (NDCs), the Paris Agreement current commitments will lead to a warming of 2.8degC, with a likely chance of holding warming below 3.1degC.

It is clear that more ambition is needed, and the earlier emission reductions happen, the greater the benefit.

I was unable to make this press conference but Dr Cara Augustenborg did a sterling job of tweeting the main points. The Press conference is available as video on demand.

Host country, Morocco, is one of the few countries rated by Climate Action Tracker as 'Sufficient' in their climate targets and climate action. Morocco, along with Nepal are the only countries to update their climate plans (NDCs) since the Paris Agreement was agreed.

Australian emissions increasing, will fail Paris commitments

The Climate Action Tracker assessment rated Australia as inadequate.

"Under present policy settings, Australia’s emissions are set to substantially increase to more than 21 percent above 2005 levels by 2030, equivalent to an increase of around 52 percent above 1990 levels. The latest economic and greenhouse gas emissions data analysed by the Climate Action Tracker (CAT) confirms earlier assessments by the CAT and many other analysts that Australia’s current policies will fall well short of meeting its proposed Paris Agreement target of an emissions reduction of (including LULUCF) 26–28 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. The Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) — the so-called “centrepiece” of the Australian Government’s policy suite to reduce emissions — does not set Australia on a path that would meet its targets. Without accelerating climate action and additional policies, Australia will miss its 2030 target by a large margin, a conclusion supported by other analysts."

Of particular concern is the reversal of a declining trend in CO2 emissions from coal-fired power stations following the removal of the carbon pricing system, with its nascent transition towards
an emissions trading scheme, and related legislation, in the middle of 2014. As a consequence, emissions from electricity production, which had been covered by the scheme, are rising again while the Federal Government continues to create political uncertainty on the future of renewable energy. The Federal Government has questioned the efficacy of renewable energy and called for one state (South Australia) that had recently closed its last coal-fired power station to reopen it. To meet its inadequate 2030 emissions targets, Australian emissions need to decrease by an average annual rate of 1.9 per cent until 2030; instead, with current policies, they are set to increase by an average rate of around 1.2 percent a year, dramatically illustrating the dichotomy between climate rhetoric and climate action.