Nations not doing enough to cut global emissions by 2.6%: UNFCCC

National pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions fall significantly short of those needed to limit catastrophic global warming, says the United Nations before climate change negotiations next month.

The “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) are enough to cut global emissions by 2.6 percent from 2019 to 2030, up from 2 percent last year, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said in its annual assessment.

But they hardly equate the 43 percent cut that scientists say is required to stay within reach of a Paris Agreement target to limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit), the body warned, referring to the 2015 global agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

As part of their Paris obligations, nations must deliver new and stronger NDCs before a deadline in February next year, and the report’s findings should mark a “turning point”, said Simon Stiell, UNFCCC executive secretary.

Current national climate plans fall miles short of what’s needed to stop global heating from crippling every economy and wrecking billions of lives and livelihoods across every country.