Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Global temperatures on the rise as world fails to meet Paris agreement emissions targets

Global temperatures on the rise as world fails to meet Paris agreement emissions targets

The reduction in carbon emissions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has done nothing to slow the earth’s warming, warns a United Nations report. Other analyses released this week, ahead of next month’s Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow, show that the world is not meeting emissions reductions targets set out in the 2015 Paris agreement.

The global economic downturn caused by Covid only temporarily reduced CO2 emissions, and not enough to reverse temperature increases, says the United in Science 2021 report, released during the week.

The report, published by a range of UN agencies and scientific partners, presents the latest scientific findings related to climate change.

Carbon emissions shrunk by 5.6 percent in 2020, after peaking in 2019. But now that Covid-19 restrictions are lifting and economies are starting up again, outside aviation and sea transport, global emissions in the first months of 2021 have gone back up, and are at about the same levels as in 2019.

The report warns that emissions will continue to rise as the world is not meeting its carbon reduction targets, which means that global temperatures will increase beyond what was set out in the 2015 Paris agreement.

The agreement, made at the Cop21 summit, called for capping global warming at below 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level, ideally to 1.5C.

“Unless there are immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, limiting warming to 1.5 C will be impossible, with catastrophic consequences for people and the planet," wrote United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in the report's foreword.

Record high temperatures


The report said the average global temperature since 2017 was among the highest on record, reaching 1.06C to 1.26C above pre-industrial (1850-1900) levels.

This has caused tangible effects, with heatwaves and extreme weather felt around the world.

The noted the severe flooding in Germany in July, writing that human-induced climate change "increased the likelihood and intensity of such an event to occur".

Guterres said the report's findings were "an alarming appraisal of just how far off course we are" in meeting the Paris agreement goals.

No one meeting Paris agreement pledges


Other groups released studies this week, with similar conclusions.

Climate Action Tracker (CAT) analysed the policies of 36 of the world’s biggest economies, along with the 27-nation European Union, and found that none are sufficient to reach 1.5C.

Under the Paris agreement, countries submitted emissions reduction pledges, which were to be updated by 31 July of this year.

“There are still over 70 countries that have yet to submit an updated target,” wrote the group, and many who have, “submitted the same or even less ambitious 2030 targets than they had put forward in 2015”.

European countries have nearly adequate domestic targets, but “none have put forward sufficient international climate finance - which is absolutely essential for ambitious action in those developing countries needing support to reduce emissions”.


A report released Thursday by Carbon Tracker and the Climate Accounting Project (CAP) points to top carbon-emitting companies that are not disclosing the full risks associated with climate change.

Of 107 energy, car and aviation companies assessed in the study, more than 70 per cent did not reflect the full risks resulting from climate change in their 2020 accounts, and none used assumptions in line with the Paris agreement

In the UN report, Guterres said: "I expect all these issues to be addressed, and resolved, at COP26", which will be held in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×