Italian Premier Mario Draghi said
Friday that the climate pledges the international community made
to cut emissions under the Paris agreement were not being
respected and called for bold action to avert a catastrophic
rise in global temperatures.
"In the Paris agreement, we pledged to limit global warming to
1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial levels," Draghi said in a
video message to a meeting of the Major Economies Forum on
Energy and Climate (MET) convened by US President Joe Biden
before the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference this
autumn.
"Most of our countries renewed this commitment in recent G20
meetings.
"However, we must be honest to ourselves and to our citizens: we
are falling short of this promise.
"Under current policies, we'll reach almost 3 degrees of global
warming by the end of the century.
"The consequences of such an increase in global temperatures
would be catastrophic".
The former president of the European Central Bank went on to
give examples of the consequences of the climate criss that the
world has already seen.
"Wildfires are ravaging forests, from California to Australia,"
he said.
"And from Germany to China, we are witnessing ever more
destructive floods.
In Italy, we are dealing with rising sea levels in Venice and
melting glaciers on the Alps.
"Severe water shortages and droughts have become increasingly
common and are hitting disproportionately some of the world's
poorest, for example in Africa".
The premier said it was time for action.
"We must honour our climate pledges and, in some cases, be ready
to make bolder ones," he said.
"And we must support our own citizens and developing countries
as we undergo this costly transition".
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