Emissions Gas Report 2021 – UNEP

This twelfth edition of the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Emissions Gap Report comes during a year in which we are constantly reminded that climate change is not in a remote future. Extreme weather events around the world – including floods, droughts, fires, hurricanes and heat waves – have continually hit the headlines.

Thousands of people have been killed or displaced and economic losses are measured in trillions. Witnessing the ever-increasing signs of climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the first report of its sixth assessment cycle addressing ‘physical science’ in August 2021.

Called a ‘code red for humanity’ by the UN Secretary-General, the IPCC report documents in much greater detail and with greater certainty than previous assessments how climate change and extreme events can be attributed to the accumulation of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the atmosphere.