Between 1900 and now, developed countries have benefitted from industrial development, which also led to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Developing countries were relatively late in starting economic development. They may be contributing to emissions now, but that is a weak reason to ask t

Question

Between 1900 and now, developed countries have benefitted from industrial development, which also led to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Developing countries were relatively late in starting economic development. They may be contributing to emissions now, but that is a weak reason to ask them to stop economic development. A farmer in rural Africa can claim that his country has not added to emissions historically, but because of the U.S. or Russia's industrialisation, his agriculture yields are declining. Or an urban worker in South America has to work, without choice, in unforgiving heat-wave conditions caused by the developed world’s emissions of the past. Therefore, options like financing developing or underdeveloped countries by the developed world have often been discussed. A paper published by Springer Link earlier this year shows that emissions attributable to the U.S. over 1990–2014 caused losses that are concentrated around 1–2% of per capita GDP across nations in South America, Africa, and South and Southeast Asia, where temperature changes have likely impacted labour productivity and agricultural yields. But emissions may have also helped a few countries, such as those in Northern Europe and Canada. Moody's Analytics estimates that by the middle of the century, Canada would see a rise in GDP of 0.3% (about $9 billion a year) as warmer climates spur agriculture and labour productivity. The Canadian Climate Institute cautioned that such a claim was not wholly true and that other factors must be considered. For example, climate-change-spurred floods could cost Canada $17 billion annually by 2050. In this war of words, the only certainty is the fast-approaching calamity. The UN Environment Programme's annual emissions gap report for 2022 released late last month said the "international community is falling far short of the Paris goals, with no credible pathway to 1.5°C in place. Only an urgent system-wide transformation can avoid climate disaster... The world must cut emissions by 45% to avoid global catastrophe." Which of the following is true with respect to the passage?

Accepted Answer

The international community has failed to bring down the temperature to 1.5°C by 2022.. The passage explicitly states that the UN Environment Programme report found "no credible pathway to 1.5°C in place". This directly supports the idea that the international community has not achieved the 1.5°C target. The other options either distort the figures or add details not stated in the passage.

Solution

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