"PARIS — Major polluters must immediately begin to reduce greenhouse gas emissions if the rise in global temperatures is to be held in check without paying a higher price later, according to a report Tuesday from the United Nations Environment Program."
"While a failure to act swiftly will not necessarily doom the effort to limit the rise in global temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit,, above preindustrial levels, it will make it much harder and more expensive to do so, the agency noted in its latest Emissions Gap Report. The authors said that delay today would require more drastic measures and gambles on currently unproven technologies in the future.
Speaking at a news conference in Berlin to introduce the report,Achim Steiner, the executive director of the U.N. environment agency, said the window of opportunity for meeting the target was 'becoming ever more elusive.' But he added that meeting the emissions target by 2020 could still be possible 'by strengthening current pledges and by further action.'"
David Jolly reports for the New York Times November 5, 2013.
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