Scientists See Catastrophe in Latest Draft of Climate Deal
LE BOURGET, France – Scientists who are closely monitoring the climate negotiations said on Friday that the emerging agreement, and the national pledges incorporated into it, are still far too weak to ensure that humanity will avoid dangerous levels of climate change.
The pledges, even if put in place in full, would result in emissions reductions perhaps half as large as those needed to meet a global goal of limiting planetary warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
“Once you set that global planetary guardrail, everything else must be consistent with that target,” said Johan Rockstrom, executive director of the Stockholm Resilience Center, an environmental institute. “It means decarbonizing the world economy by 2050.”
Yet the pledges countries have offered as part of the deal are not remotely consistent with that target, incorporating no more than half the emissions cuts that would be needed to meet it.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/climate/2015-paris-climate-talks/scientists-see-catastrophe-in-latest-draft-of-climate-deal