UN outlines greenhouse gas emissions gap

 New York, 24 Nov –(ANA)-A new United Nations-led report says that nations can deliver almost 60 per cent of the emissions reductions needed to keep global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius only if the pledges made at last year’s Copenhagen climate change conference are fully met.

 The coordinated by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), comes as governments prepare for the UN Climate Change Conference in Cancún, Mexico, to be held from 29 November to 10 December.

 The findings spotlight the size of the “emissions gap” between where nations might be in 2020 versus where the science indicates they need to be.

 “The results indicate that the UN meeting in Copenhagen could prove to have been more of a success than a failure if all the commitments, intentions and funding, including fully supporting the pledges of developing economies, are met,” said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner, pointing out that through negotiations, the current options on the table “can get us almost 60 per cent of the way” to ambition levels. (ANA)

FA/ANA/24 November 2010--------