Climate Group Calls for Global Action: Tax Oil, Boost Renewables, Cut Methane

Climate Group launched Climate Week NYC, urging countries to tax oil imports, remove barriers to renewable energy, and cut methane emissions. A seven-point plan was released highlighting the need for urgent climate action. The earth's temperature has risen by 1.15°C since the Industrial Revolution due to greenhouse gases.

In a bold call to global leaders, the international non-profit Climate Group has inaugurated Climate Week NYC with urgent recommendations to tax oil and gas imports, dismantle barriers to renewable energy expansion, and drastically cut methane emissions. This annual event, organized in partnership with the United Nations, aims to amplify global climate action.

Highlighting the insufficiency of current UN climate agreements to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius guardrail, Climate Group unveiled a seven-point to-do list designed to accelerate emissions reductions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that greenhouse gas emissions must drop by at least 43 percent by 2030 and 60 percent by 2035.

Despite significant growth in renewable energy and electric vehicle sales, global emissions have reached dangerous levels. Even the US, despite its most climate-forward administration, only achieved a 1.9 percent emissions reduction in 2023. Climate Group CEO Helen Clarkson stressed the need for immediate results, stating, "We can't keep making ambitious commitments but then only half implementing them."

(With inputs from agencies.)