Emissions Gap Report 2021: The Heat Is On – A World of Climate Promises Not Yet Delivered

This report was published by the United Nations Environment Programme on October 26, 2021. It is the 12th edition of the annual UNEP Emissions Gap Report (EGR), the first of which was published in the year 2011. The report presents an assessment of the gap between the estimated future global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions if countries fulfil their stated targets, and the global emission levels from the ‘least-cost pathways’ for limiting global warming to 2°C below ‘pre-industrial levels’ by 2100.The 2021 EGR highlights the urgency of establishing effective redressal systems for climate change, keeping in mind the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) data submitted by countries before the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26), held by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2021. The report was prepared by an international team of leading scientists who assessed scientific literature including reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.The report says that the NDCs – which are submitted by UNFCCC parties every five years – and targets that countries have set will have limited impact on global emissions. The NDCs updated before COP26 will only result in a 7.5 per cent reduction in projected emissions for the year 2030, whereas a reduction of 30 per cent is required to limit global warming to 2°C in the long term. The report urges nations to implement policies to meet their new commitments, and suggests that they reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas, waste and agricultural sectors. Further, the report highlights the need to adopt nature-based and energy-efficient solutions.This 112-page report is divided into seven chapters: Introduction (Chapter 1); Trends in global emissions, new pledges for 2030 and G20 status and outlook (Chapter 2), Net-zero emissions targets (Chapter 3); The emissions gap (Chapter 4); Are COVID-19 fiscal recovery measures bridging or extending the emissions gap? (Chapter 5); The role of anthropogenic methane emissions in bridging the emissions gap (Chapter 6); and The role of market mechanisms in bridging the emissions gap (Chapter 7).