Deeper carbon cuts needed to avoid climate tragedy

PARIS: The world’s nations must urgently ramp up commitments to cut planet-warming carbon emissions to avoid “human tragedy”, the United Nations warned on Thursday.

As they stand, these commitments -- which do not kick in until 2020 -- would still allow average global temperatures to climb as high as 3.4 degrees Celsius (6.1 degrees Fahrenheit) by the end of the century, a recipe for massive climate damage, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said in its annual “Emissions Gap” report.