The world is facing drastic rises in temperature, the head of the United Nations Environment Programme predicts.

The annual Emissions Gap report, which assesses countries’ promises to tackle climate change compared with what is needed, says the world faces between 2.5C and 2.9C of warming above pre-industrial levels if governments do not boost climate action.

At 3C of warming, scientists predict the world could pass several catastrophic points of no return, from the runaway melting of ice sheets to the Amazon rainforest drying out.

“Present trends are racing our planet down a dead-end 3C temperature rise,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

“The emissions gap is more like an emissions canyon.”

Source: Climate on track to warm by nearly 3C: UN report