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STORY: UNEP/ EMISSION GAP REPORT
TRT: 2.11
SOURCE: UNEP/ WORLD BANK /IFAD /MINUSTAH /UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS
DATELINE: 5 NOVEMBER 2013, NAIROBI, KENYA
FILE – WORLD BANK – MAY 2008, INDIA
1. Zoom out, traffic on street
FILE – WORLD BANK – 2008, VIETNAM
2. Wide shot, street scene
FILE – WORLD BANK – MAY 2008, INDIA
3. Wide shot, traffic on street
4. Aerial shot, traffic on roads
FILE – UNICEF – FEBRUARY 2008, CHELYABINSK, RUSSIA
5. Close up, smoking chimneys
6. Zoom in, power plant
7. Wide shot, train in front of industrial landscape
8. Close up, exhaust from the car
9. Wide shot, industrial pollution
10. Med shot, industrial pollution
5 NOVEMBER 2013, NAIROBI, KENYA
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director:
“The bad news is that, where we are right now, does reinforce the fundamental notion and impression that is being conveyed by many of the reports around the world, by many of the experts around the world, that the window of opportunity to meet this two degree target threshold is in a sense becoming ever more elusive.”
FILE- IFAD 24- 29 JUNE 2013, YAKO, BURKINA FASO
12. Wide shot, agriculture field with village in the back
13. Wide shot, people working in the field
14. Med shot, tilt up, people working in the field
15. Wide shot, kids sitting on the ground with hills in the back
16. Wide shot, a hill with new trees
17. Close up, split focus from tree branch to field in the back
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director:
“The news that this report provides is a very sobering perspective of where we are, and where we are still heading, and how quite far reaching the implications are of maintaining this trajectory that we see at the moment. None of this should hide the fact that, across the world, more and more countries, more and more communities, societies, industries, local authorities, are, in fact beginning to act on climate change. Question is: are they all going to remain pioneers, where they have to do this on their own, or will we be able to frame, through greater tightening of the pledges through additional actions, through international voluntary actions that are complementary and can add momentum. Can we actually make that gap one that we can reduce rather than enlarge?”
FILE – MINUSTAH - 13 AND 14 MAY 2013, FONDS VERRETTES AND GROS CHEVAL, HAITI
19. Various shots, erosion
If the global community do not immediately embark on wide-ranging actions to narrow the greenhouse gas emissions gap, the chance of keeping global temperature rise below 2°C in this century will swiftly diminish and open the door to a host of challenges, according to the report of the United Nations Environment Programme.
If the gap is not closed or significantly narrowed by 2020, the door too many options to limit temperature increase to a lower target of 1.5° C will be closed, further increasing the need to rely on faster energy-efficiency improvements and biomass with carbon capture and storage.
The Emissions Gap Report 2013-involving 44 scientific groups in 17 countries and coordinated by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Its Executive Director, Achim Steiner is underlining urgency of taking action: “The bad news is that, where we are right now, does reinforce the fundamental notion and impression that is being conveyed by many of the reports around the world, by many of the experts around the world, that the window of opportunity to meet this two degree target threshold is in a sense becoming ever more elusive.”
Scientists agree that the risks of irreversible damage to the environment would increase significantly should the global average temperature rise above 2°C in relation to pre-industrial levels by the end of the century.
Even if nations meet their current climate pledges, greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 are likely to be 8 to 12 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent above the level that would provide a likely chance of remaining on the least-cost pathway. However, it is not too late to prevent worst from happening as Steiner points out.
“The news that this report provides is a very sobering perspective of where we are, and where we are still heading and how quite far reaching the implications are of maintaining this trajectory that we see at the moment. None of this should hide the fact that, across the world, more and more countries, more and more communities, societies, industries, local authorities, are, in fact beginning to act on climate change.
Question is: are they all going to remain pioneers, where they have to do this on their own, or will we be able to frame, through greater tightening of the pledges through additional actions, through international voluntary actions that are complementary and can add momentum. Can we actually make that gap one that we can reduce rather than enlarge?
Adding up the reduction from the tightening of rules, implementing ambitious pledges, and expanding the scope of the current pledges could bring the global community about halfway to closing the gap. The report says that the remaining gap could be bridged by further international and national action, including through "international cooperative initiatives."
The report outlines a range of measures that not only contribute to climate-change mitigation, but enhance the sector's environmental sustainability and could provide other benefits such as higher yields, lower fertilizer costs or extra profits from wood supply.
