Hijjah, 1431/Nov. 23, 2010, SPA -- World governments are not cutting greenhouse- gas emissions quickly enough to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, a United Nations-led study found Tuesday. The study by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), together with about 25 research groups, said emission cuts pledged during last year's Copenhagen summit go about 60 per cent of the way towards limiting global temperature rises to 2 degrees Celsius, dpa reported. The 60-per-cent projection marked the study's optimistic scenario, in which all the conditions that countries put on their domestic cuts - including some kind of international agreement - were met. The UN and environmentalists urged governments to ramp up their commitments during the upcoming climate summit in Cancun, Mexico, which begins on Monday. Stalemate on many issues means negotiators in Cancun are unlikely to make much progress towards a global treaty. "There is no time to waste," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement. "By closing the gap between the science and current ambition levels, we can seize the opportunity to usher in a new era of low-carbon prosperity and sustainable development for all." The current commitments would cut emissions of carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas blamed for global warming, to 49 gigatonnes per year by 2020, compared to 56 gigatonnes if no actions are taken. CO2 emissions were estimated at 48 gigatonnes in 2009. A more pessimistic scenario, where countries follow through only on their lowest pledges, sees emissions falling to only 53 gigatonnes by 2020. World leaders committed in Copenhagen last December to the 2- degree ceiling, but the report found that countries would need to cut global emissions to 44 gigatonnes by 2020 to reach that goal. The report was released simultaneously in several cities, including Washington and Nairobi, where UNEP is headquartered. The study does not look at the cuts needed beyond 2020, but Kelly Levin of the World Resources Institute, a Washington-based environmental group, said keeping to the 2-degree limit would require "quite unprecedented" cutbacks in emissions after 2020. The pace of those future cuts would depend largely on when the world manages to stop carbon dioxide emissions from rising. That peak would have to come some time between 2015 and 2020 for the world to have any chance of keeping temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees, the report said.
