KATOWICE, Poland, Dec 10, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The United States and Saudi
Arabia rank last when it comes to curbing climate change among the 56 nations
accounting for 90 percent of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions,
researchers said Monday.
A large number of laggards means the world is dangerously off-track when
it comes to slashing the carbon pollution that has already amplified
droughts, flooding and deadly heatwaves worldwide, they reported on the
margins of UN climate talks in Katowice, Poland.
“Only a few countries have started to implement strategies to limit global
warming well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit),” the
cornerstone target of the 2015 Paris climate treaty, according to NewClimate
Institute and Germanwatch, an NGO.
Most governments “lack the political will to phase out fossil fuels with
the necessary speed.”
Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), which accounts for 80 percent of
global warming, will climb nearly three percent in 2018, scientists confirmed
last week.
After holding steady from 2014 through 2016 — raising hopes that humanity
had turned a corner on climate change — carbon pollution started to climb
again last year, driven by increased use of oil, gas and coal.
A major UN report in October concluded that CO2 emission levels must drop a
quarter within 12 years to stay under 2C, and by half over the same period to
cap warming at 1.5C, seen as a safer guardrail against catastrophic extreme
weather.
Sweden and Morocco scored highest in the annual ranking, the survey showed,
with Britain, India, Norway, Portugal and the European Union as a whole in
the top tranche as well.
The three-place podium, however, was left empty because no country’s
policies and actions were deemed sufficient, it said.
– Fossil fuel lock-in –
Other nations at the bottom of the list included Iran, South Korea,
Australia, Canada, Russia, Turkey and Japan.
In determining a score, the Climate Change Performance Index looked at
each country’s progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, building up
renewable energy such as wind and solar, energy use, and its climate
policies.
On current trends, the world is on track to heat up four or five degrees
Celsius by century’s end.
National pledges to cut carbon pollution annexed to the Paris Agreement —
if fulfilled — would still see the global thermometer rise by more than 3C,
a recipe for climate chaos, according to scientists.
Earth’s average surface temperature has risen by about 1C since the mid-
19th century.
“The costs of electricity from wind and solar have dropped by roughly a
third since the Paris Agreement, so all countries can increase ambition and
pace,” said co-author Niklas Hohne, a professor at the NewClimate Institute.
In 40 of the 56 countries survey, emissions went down between 2011 and
2016.
At the same time, however, investment in fossil fuel infrastructure — and
the risk of being locked into a high-emissions future — increased.
US President Donald Trump has dismantled many of the climate change
policies of his predecessor, Barack Obama. He has also promoted the use of
fossil fuels and tried to unwind more stringent fuel standards for vehicles.
The US might have ranked last but for the ambitious climate policies of
California and other states, the report said.
India’s ranking, 11, improved due to a rapid installation of solar energy,
a low per capita carbon footprint, and relatively aggressive targets for
reducing emissions.