Noting that little progress has been made in stemming climate change, a UN report has pointed out that India and China will account for more than half of transportrelated emissions in the world which are set to increase 57 per cent by 2030.
The fifth edition of UN Environment Programme’s Global Environmental Outlook (GEO-5) also considers Asia-Pacific as the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions globally due to rapid economic growth in the past 20 years and pointed out that the region will constitute around 45 per cent of the global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.
Noting that little progress has been made in stemming climate change, the Global
Environmental Outlook (GEO-5) held that development should not be at the expense of environment.
The report also warned of “irreversible” damage to the planet’s resources due to rapid urbanisation, fast population growth and consumption of natural resources, while calling for urgent measures on setting new green targets to save the environment.
Launched on the eve of the Rio+20 Summit, the fifth edition of the Global Environmental Outlook (GEO-5) of United Nations Environment Programme points to significant progress only in four of the possible 90 goals and objectives set to achieve global sustainable development.
The report cautions if humanity does not urgently change its ways, several critical thresholds may be exceeded, beyond which abrupt and generally irreversible changes to the lifesupport functions of the planet could occur.
“If current trends continue, if current patterns of production and consumption of national resources prevail and cannot be reversed and ‘decoupled’, then governments will preside over “unprecedented levels of damage and degradation,” said UNEP executive director Achim Steiner