UNEP production gap report 2021

Context:

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recently released its report called “2021 Production Gap Report”. According to the report, government’s plan to produce fossil fuels will evade the Paris Deal limits.

Relevance:

GS-III: Environment and Ecology (Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Conservation of Environment and Ecology, International Treaties and Agreements, International Organizations and their reports)

Dimensions of the Article:

1. About UNEP’s Production Gap Report
2. Highlights of the 2021 Production Gap Report
3. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

About UNEP’s Production Gap Report

• The Production Gap Report was first launched in 2019 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
• The Production Gap Report tracks the discrepancy between governments’ planned fossil fuel production and global production levels consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C or 2°C.
• The report represents a collaboration of several researchers and academic institutions, including input from more than 40 experts.
• UNEP staff provided guidance and insights from their experience leading other gap reports.

2021 Production Gap Report

• The 2021 report presents the first comprehensive update of the production gap analysis since our 2019 assessment.
• The report also tracks how governments worldwide are supporting fossil fuel production through their policies, investments, and other measures, as well as how some are beginning to discuss and enact policies towards a managed and equitable transition away from fossil fuel production.
• The 2021 report features individual country profiles for 15 major fossil fuel-producing countries and a special chapter on the role of transparency in helping to address the production gap.
• Assessment of the production gap is based on recent and publicly accessible plans and projections for fossil fuel production published by governments and affiliated institutions.

Highlights of the 2021 Production Gap Report

• As per report, despite inc­reasing climate am­bitions and net-zero commitments, governments are planning to produce more than double amount of fossil fuels in the year 2030 than what was required for limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
• The climate crisis has become clearer than ever, but it has not been able to compel major emitters to improve action on the ground so far.
• The production gap to achieve the climate goal is the widest for coal: Production plans and projections by governments would lead to around 240 per cent more coal, 57 per cent more oil, and 71 per cent more gas in 2030 than global levels consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C.
• The most worrying factor is that almost all major coal, oil and gas producers are planning to increase their production till at least 2030 or beyond.
• This has been fuelled by incremental capital flow towards fossil fuels in comparison to clean energy in the post novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) recovery phase. The Group of 20 countries has channelised $300 billion to fossil fuels since the beginning of the pandemic, and the sector is still enjoying significant fiscal incentives.
• The world does not have any more time to alter its trajectory of energy use from fossil to clean energy, and a slight deviation in the coming decade will have a substantial burden of adversaries to our future generations, as we will be locked into long-term human-induced global warming beyond 2 degrees Celsius.

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

• The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is a leading global environmental authority established in 1972 and Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya.
• It sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the sustainable development within the United Nations system, and serves as an authoritative advocate for global environment protection.
• The UNEP Publishes:
• Emission Gap Report,
• Global Environment Outlook,
• Frontiers,
• Invest into Healthy Planet.

-Source: Down to Earth Magazine