BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 16. It is necessary to integrate AI and digital technologies into strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the executive director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), Inger Andersen said during a high-level roundtable on green digital action, Trend reports.
"We are unfortunately not moving on track towards our goals: keeping global warming below two degrees, with a focus on 1.5 degrees.
If you look at carbon dioxide emissions last year, they increased by 1.3 percent, whereas they should have decreased by double digits.
Currently, we are recording an annual emission level of 57.1 gigatons. With only 700 gigatons left before we cross the 1.5-degree threshold, which is inevitable according to the laws of physics, we have less than four years to make a determined effort to change the trajectory. That's why utilizing all available tools is critical, and that fully includes digital technologies. We need to integrate AI and digital technologies into our greenhouse gas reduction strategies; this is becoming vital,” she emphasized.
To note, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which will run until November 22, opened at the Baku Olympic Stadium on November 11. It is the largest event organized by Azerbaijan to date, and the first time in the region that it is being held in Azerbaijan.
Within COP29, the highest level event - the summit of world leaders on climate action – was held on November 12–13.
The main expectation from COP29 is to agree on a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantitative Goal (NCQG) on climate finance. The COP29 chairmanship has launched 14 initiatives that include linkages between climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals, including green energy corridors, green energy storage, harmony for climate resilience, clean hydrogen, methane reduction in organic waste, action on green digital technologies, and other topics.
In addition to being a top priority that creates the conditions for action, creating climate finance will also help fulfill the 1.5°C pledge by bringing everyone together.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Rio Earth Summit in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference in the climate system. The acronym COP (Conference of Parties) stands for “Conference of Parties” and is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change.
A total of 198 countries are parties to the Convention. Unless otherwise decided by the parties, COP is held annually. The first COP event was held in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.
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