At a Glance

Nations around the world are falling woefully short of the Paris Accord emissions targets. Global CO2 emissions increased in 2017 after three years of stagnation. Even if nations live up to their current commitments, global temperatures will increase3.2 degrees Celsius by the turnof the century.

Three years after nearly 200 world leaders signed the Paris Accord and agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a report from the United Nations brings sobering news about the lack of progress being made.

According to the Emissions Gap Report 2018 report released Tuesday, nations around the world are falling woefully shortof theset in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and would need toneed to triple their efforts to meet it by 2030.

The agreement also called for efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-Industrial levels, but thatis becoming increasingly difficult to achieve.

"Looking from the outside perspective, it's an impossible task," Poland's deputy environment minister, Michal Kurtyka, who will preside over a gathering of world leaders next week in Katowice, Poland, told the Associated Press.

The annual report notes that instead of decreasing, global CO2 emissions increased in 2017 by 0.7 gigatons to 53.5 gigatons, increasing the gap in emissions reductions to 13 gigatons. This comes following three years of stabilization.

In order to limit global warming to 1.5 degreesCelsius, global greenhouse gas emissionsmust be reduced by 55 percent by 2030 and must be reduced by 25 percentin order to limit warming to 2degrees Celsius.

"The message is clear: we need to make an almost existential change, the solutions are there, and we have no excuse,"Joyce Msuya, acting executive director of the UN Environment Programme, said in the report. "And yes, it is still possible to bridge the emissions gap to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius. However, the opportunity to bridge the 1.5 degrees Celsius gap is dwindling."

Msuya noted that even if the nations of the world live up to their current commitments, global temperatures will increase 3.2 degrees Celsius above pre-Industrial levels by the turnof the century.

"That’s a number that would be catastrophic – and fatal for many small island states and coastal areas," Msuya said. "The fact is that we are already seeing climate change play out in front of us. From the Caribbean superstorms to droughts in the Horn of Africa, or record temperatures and wildfires, our planet is already changing."

The report says global peaking of emissions by 2020 is "crucial for achieving the temperature targets of the Paris Agreement, but the scale and pace of current action remaininsufficient."

In fact, global peaking is not expected to be achievedin 2020 or even by 2030, according to the report. Only 57 countries are on track to peak by 2030.

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The report concludes that countries need to triple their efforts to reduce greenhouse gasses to meet the 2-degreeCelsius goal by 2030. To meet the 1.5-degree goal, countries will have to reduce emissions five times over.

Knowing that this is unlikely, the report calls on "other actors," or non-state entities such as city, county, regional governments and businesses, to step up and bridge the gap. Specifically, the report also urges governments to embrace fiscal policies such as subsidizinglow-emission alternatives and taxing fossil fuels.

"The science also shows emission reduction potential from other actors such as regional and local governments and businesses – is very large. That means that initiatives like the must be commended and supported," Msuya said, referring to a network of 96 cities, including Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., that are working together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"The key is to understand we are not powerless in the face of climate change. The science may be frightening, but the solutions are clear. The only missing link is leadership," Msuya said.