PARIS, France – A hard-fought pact to stave off worst-case-scenario global warming enters into force Friday after record-fast ratification by nations reassembling next week for a fresh round of UN climate talks. “Humanity will look back on November 4, 2016, as the day that countries of the world shut the door on inevitable climate disaster,” UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa said. By 2030, said the UN Environment Programme, annual greenhouse gas emissions will be 12 to 14 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) higher than the desired level of 42 billion tons. It had to be ratified by 55 parties to the UN’s climate convention (UNFCCC), representing 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions to take effect. “The timetable is pressing because globally, greenhouse gas emissions which drive climate change and its impacts are not falling,” said Espinosa.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer November 04, 2016 03:34 UTC