UN secretary general: Earth ‘not on track’ to limit temperature increases to 1.5 percent

by Chris Mills Rodrigo - 05/12/19 2:13 PM ET

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said that earth is “not on track” to limit temperature increases to 1.5 percent, New Zealand’s TVNZ television network reported Sunday.

“Climate change is running faster than what we are… the last four years have been the hottest registered in relation to the rising level of the oceans, and the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,” Guterres said, speaking alongside New Zealand Prime Jacinda Ardern during a visit to the country.

“Political will is fading” he continued, and “we are not on track to achieve the objectives defined in the Paris Agreement.”

{mosads}Guterres also praised New Zealand for their climate change leadership, according to TVNZ.

“Not only is New Zealand fully in line with what was promised by New Zealand in Paris, but New Zealand is introducing legislation to achieve a fundamental goal that the scientific community has defined as absolutely crucial, which is to reach the end of the century without more than 1.5 degrees, which means achieving carbon neutrality before 2050,” Guterres said.

A United Nations report released last November warned that many nations’ attempts to cut emissions were falling woefully short of the goal set out in the Paris climate agreement.

The U.N. report mirrored a handful of others released late last year warning of the life-threatening consequences of continued greenhouse gas emissions and failure by countries to decrease carbon levels in the atmosphere.

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