The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Carbon dioxide levels hit a new high despite COVID lockdowns - WMO
Levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere hit a new record of 410.5 parts per million in 2019 and are expected to keep rising this year despite a slight reduction in emissions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in its annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin on Monday.
Atmospheric concentrations of CO2, the most important of several greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to climate change, have risen by 50 per cent since pre-industrial times.
“So the CO2 which we have now in the atmosphere is accumulated since 1750, so it's every single bit which we put in the atmosphere since that time actually forms the current concentration. It's not what happened today or yesterday, it’s the whole history of the human economic and human development, which actually lead us to this global level of 410”, Oksana Tarasova, WMO Chief of Atmospheric and Environment Research Division, told a news conference in Geneva.
WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said that COVID-related lockdowns were expected to reduce this year’s carbon dioxide emissions by between four and seven per cent.
Dr. Tarasova said that CO2 levels in the atmosphere would continue to increase rapidly, and even if CO2 emissions stopped, it would take decades for atmospheric levels to start to fall.
“When we talk about the impact of COVID and Professor Taalas indicated that the impact of COVID on emissions is between four to seven per cent. So despite the fact that it looked like that the world stands still, we get only the decrease of four to seven per cent in emissions which we produced. So our whole economy and our consumption patterns actually wire us to the extremely high emissions, even if we all sit on lockdown and limit our mobility, because the lockdown is only limited on mobility and not on our consumption.”
Professor Taalas said the world needed to move rapidly towards carbon neutrality, and many countries were now promising to do so.
“If you would like to reach carbon neutrality or this 1.5 degree (Celsius) target, then we should become carbon neutral by 2050. And as I said, the good news is that we have now a growing amount of countries and groups of countries who have committed to that. So far we have 50 per cent of the global emissions which are coming from China, European Union and Japan and South Korea, and also 50 per cent of the global GDP behind this,”he said.
“If the USA with the Biden administration will have the same target that would mean we would have the majority of our emissions and also the majority of the global economy behind such a target. And we should bend this emissions growth curve in the coming five years, and then we should start seeing drops of the emissions of the order of six per cent per year until 2050 to reach that target.”
Asked about the prospects for environmentally-friendly policies in the next U.S. administration, Professor Taalas said: “Biden, at least in his campaign, he was indicating that they would invest both in carbon-friendly technologies, there would be a fairly, fairly big package for that. And we are talking about a couple of trillions. And then he has indicated that he would like to have the same aim as many others, to become carbon neutral by 2050, and of course that would be good news for the – globally, and it might have the domino effect that it might motivate also some other countries.”
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations main entrance, a sunny day.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Dr Oksana Tarasova, WMO Chief of Atmospheric and Environment Research Division: “So the CO2 which we have now in the atmosphere is accumulated since 1750, so it's every single bit which we put in the atmosphere since that time actually forms the current concentration. It's not what happened today or yesterday, it’s the whole history of the human economic and human development, which actually lead us to this global level of 410 (ppm).”
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations main entrance with UN’s flag.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Dr Oksana Tarasova, WMO Chief of Atmospheric and Environment Research Division: “And when we talk about the impact of COVID and Professor Taalas indicated that the impact of COVID on emissions is between four to seven per cent. So, despite the fact that it looked like that the world stands still, we get only the decrease of four to seven per cent in emissions which we produced. So, our whole economy and our consumption patterns actually wire us to the extremely high emissions, even if we all sit on lockdown and limit our mobility, because the lockdown is only limited on mobility and not on our consumption.”
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations main entrance.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Prof Petteri Taalas, WMO Secretary-General: “If you would like to reach carbon neutrality or this 1.5 degree target, then we should become carbon neutral by 2050. And as I said, the good news is that we have now a growing amount of countries and groups of countries who have committed to that. So far we have 50 per cent of the global emissions which are coming from… from China, European Union and Japan and South Korea, and also 50 per cent of the global GDP behind this.”
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations main entrance.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Prof Petteri Taalas, WMO Secretary-General: “If the USA with the Biden administration will have the same target that would mean we would have the majority of our emissions and also the majority of the global economy behind such a target. And we should bend this emissions growth curve in the coming five years, and then we should start seeing drops of the emissions of the order of six per cent per year until 2050 to reach that target.”
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, a car passing.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Prof Petteri Taalas, WMO Secretary-General: “Biden, at least in his campaign, he was indicating that they would invest both in carbon-friendly technologies, there would be a fairly, fairly big package for that. And we are talking about a couple of trillions. And then he has indicated that he would like to have the same aim as many others, to become carbon neutral by 2050, and of course that would be good news for the – globally, and it might have the domino effect that it might motivate also some other countries.”
- Exterior wide shot, Broken Chair sculpture and Palais des Nations main entrance.
- Exterior medium shot, Palais des Nations main entrance.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The appointment on Thursday of Karla Quintana as head of the Independent Institution on Missing Persons in the Syrian Arab Republic is a key development after nearly a year and a half of work by the UN Human Rights Office supporting the institution’s launch.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNICEF , UNRWA , WHO
The head of the UN migration agency stressed on Friday that Syria is in no position to take back millions of Syrians following the fall of the Assad regime, while there is an urgent need to “re-evaluate” sanctions impacting the war-ravaged country.
1
1
1
Edited News | IIIM , UNHCR
Syria: ‘Key priority’ is to preserve evidence of crimes – UN investigators
In Syria, new access to evidence of horrific human rights violations means that accountability may be closer than ever – if only proof can be preserved, a top UN investigator said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OSE , ICRC , UNHCR
Syria: UN and partners urge action to preserve evidence of prison atrocities, stabilize country
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria five days ago, hundreds of people have rushed to Saydnaya prison, desperate to find loved ones. Disturbing images from the prison and other detention centers have since surfaced, exposing the “unimaginable barbarity Syrians have endured for years,” said Jenifer Fenton, spokesperson for the UN special envoy for Syria, on Friday.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNRWA
Gaza: “Sickening normalisation” of suffering, amid attacks on people and aid convoys
Ongoing military operations by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in Gaza continue to devastate Palestinian children and families, with mounting casualties and a critical lack of humanitarian aid for the desperate population.
“Local media reporting here that last night, 30 people were killed in this area in strikes” said a senior emergency officer with the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Louise Wateridge, speaking to reporters in Geneva from central Gaza.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OHCHR
Rights experts call for end to impunity for Israel’s violations of international law
Four independent human rights experts have jointly called for the international community to sanction Israel’s conduct of hostilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as well as in the wider Middle East region - including in Syria, Lebanon and Iran. They also called for the restoration of trust in the international justice system through the abandonment of “extreme interpretations” and “double standards” in the application of the universal norms regulating the conduct of war.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNHCR
Syria: needs continue to grow amid highly uncertain situation, say aid teams
The historic power shift in Syria and the still volatile situation two days after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime have increased humanitarian needs in a country where nearly 17 million people, including millions of internally displaced, already depended on humanitarian aid before the recent events, UN aid teams said on Tuesday.
2
1
3
Edited News , Press Conferences | OSES
Barely 48 hours since opposition forces including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) swept into Damascus and forced out President Bashar al-Assad, the top UN negotiator tasked with helping Syrians’ create a peaceful and democratic future insisted that nothing could be taken for granted.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday called on States to do all in their power to end senseless conflicts and suffering.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
No evacuation order given before Kamal Adwan Hospital strike, says WHO
One of the last partially functional health centres in northern Gaza was reportedly hit again overnight into Friday by several strikes, leaving four health workers among the casualties and the dead, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | OCHA
More than 280,000 people have been uprooted in northwest Syria in a matter of days following the sudden and massive offensive into Government-controlled areas led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is sanctioned by the Security Council as a terrorist group.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk has called on the Georgian authorities to respect and protect the rights to freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly following several nights of protests that were marred by violence, and dispersed using disproportionate, and in some cases unnecessary, force by the police in the capital, Tbilisi.