Paris climate pledges not being kept says Draghi

(ANSA) - ROME, SEP 17 - Italian Premier Mario Draghi said Friday that the climate pledges the international community made to cut emissions under the Paris agreement were not being respected and called for bold action to avert a catastrophic rise in global temperatures.
    "In the Paris agreement, we pledged to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial levels," Draghi said in a video message to a meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MET) convened by US President Joe Biden before the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference this autumn.
    "Most of our countries renewed this commitment in recent G20 meetings.
    "However, we must be honest to ourselves and to our citizens: we are falling short of this promise.
    "Under current policies, we'll reach almost 3 degrees of global warming by the end of the century.
    "The consequences of such an increase in global temperatures would be catastrophic".
    The former president of the European Central Bank went on to give examples of the consequences of the climate criss that the world has already seen.
    "Wildfires are ravaging forests, from California to Australia," he said.
    "And from Germany to China, we are witnessing ever more destructive floods.
    In Italy, we are dealing with rising sea levels in Venice and melting glaciers on the Alps.
    "Severe water shortages and droughts have become increasingly common and are hitting disproportionately some of the world's poorest, for example in Africa".
    The premier said it was time for action.
    "We must honour our climate pledges and, in some cases, be ready to make bolder ones," he said.
    "And we must support our own citizens and developing countries as we undergo this costly transition". (ANSA).