UN: Net zero pledges on climate give hope, but still vague

BERLIN (AP) — A United Nations agency reports that fresh pledges by governments to cut greenhouse gas emissions raise hopes but aren’t strict enough to avoid catastrophic global warming. A report by the U.N. Environment Programme on Tuesday found announcements by dozens of countries to aim for “net-zero” emissions by 2050 could limit a global temperature rise to 2.2 degrees Celsius (4 F) by the end of the century. That’s close to the less stringent target set in the Paris climate accord but far from the agreement’s most ambitious goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius C (2.7 F). The Environment Programme report said the net-zero goals that many governments announced before a U.N. climate summit next week remain vague.