The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has set a goal of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions by 50 to 52 percent by 2030. This ambitious target is necessary to meet the 1.5°C and 2°C targets set out in the Paris Agreement. To achieve this, governments must increase their ambition levels fivefold for the 1.5°C target and threefold for the 2°C target. Oxfam has urged world leaders to make deeper emissions cuts by 2030, and to ensure that the wealthiest people in the world and within countries make the most radical cuts.
Carbon inequality analysis must be at the heart of governments' efforts to reduce emissions. The UN has warned that if immediate steps are not taken to increase emissions cuts, the chances of keeping global temperature rise below 2°C will rapidly decline. The US, as the world's largest historical source of emissions, has some of the most carbon-intensive lifestyles. To meet the Paris Agreement's most ambitious climate goals, nations must roughly triple their current emission reduction pledges.
Lucas Chancel's report estimates that carbon emissions per passenger for an 11-minute spaceflight are at least 75 tons. Last year saw a record high of 59 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions globally. To begin meeting these goals, humans must collectively reduce emissions by amounts close to those of the pandemic (7.6 percent) each year.
