The executive director of the United Nations Environment Program - UNEP Inger Andersen has warned that the time of the climate crisis "is here", while years of inaction threaten to overtake countries around the world.

According to her, the chance of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is "practically zero" on current trends.

"The time of the climate crisis is here. We need global mobilization on an unprecedented scale and pace - starting now, before the next round of climate pledges," Andersen said.

This year's Emissions Gap report reveals that greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 were the highest on record. More worryingly, the growth rate from 2022 was almost twice as fast as in the decade before COVID.

This comes despite decades of climate talks and a boom in wind and solar power.

The analysis finds that the current trajectory in carbon emissions puts the world on track for a potentially catastrophic warming of 3.1 degrees Celsius this century - compared to pre-industrial times.

While emissions in many rich countries, including the UK, the US and the EU have peaked, they are not falling fast enough to offset rapidly rising emissions in countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.

The report urges countries meeting at the UN climate summit next month in Baku, Azerbaijan, to come forward with commitments to cut emissions that do not continue to ignore the 2015 Paris agreement.

The Paris Agreement, signed by 196 countries, pledged to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to try to prevent its rise beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius.

UNEP's analysis of current carbon reduction commitments reveals that only one country, Madagascar, has presented a more ambitious state since last year, and only a handful are ambitious enough to slow global warming.

If all current pledges were fully implemented, the world would continue to warm between 2.6-2.8 degrees Celsius this century.

As many countries, including the UK, have yet to implement policies to fully meet their targets, the current trajectory takes the world closer to a potentially catastrophic warming of 3.1 degrees Celsius.

"Global warming projections show that the chance of limiting global warming to 1.5 C would be virtually zero," the report concludes.

A cost analysis of measures to reduce emissions reveals that there is technical potential for cutting 31 gigatons of greenhouse gases by 2030 - about half the total emitted globally in 2023 and 41 gigatons by 2035.

This "massive effort" to deploy zero-carbon electricity generation, such as wind and solar, and reverse deforestation trends, will bridge the gap needed to get the world back on track to keep warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius .

Emissions cuts must be 7.5% steeper each year until 2035 to reach 1.5 degrees Celsius and 4 percent per year to keep to 2 degrees Celsius. /SkyNews