Government pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions put the planet on track for an average 2.8 degrees Celsius temperature rise this century, after “woefully inadequate” progress to curb warming, a United Nations report says.

Representatives from around the world will meet from November 6-18 at the COP27 climate talks in Egypt to try to agree pledges to limit warming to below 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels and ideally to 1.5 degrees.

So far, additional commitments since the previous UN climate conference in Scotland last year remove 0.5 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gas emissions (GtCO2e), less than 1 per cent of estimated global emissions in 2030, the annual UN Environment Program (UNEP) report showed on Thursday.

Policies in place, without strengthening, will likely lead to a 2.8 degrees rise in temperature by the end of the century, 0.1 degrees higher than was estimated last year.

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“We had our chance to make incremental changes, but that time is over. Only a root-and-branch transformation of our economies and societies can save us from accelerating climate disaster,” UNEP executive director Inger Andersen said.

Global emissions in 2030 are estimated at 58 GtCO2e based on current policies.

The gap between pledges and limiting warming to 2 degrees is 15 GtCO2e a year and for 1.5 degrees it is 23 GtCO2e a year.

To limit warming to 1.5 degrees, annual emissions must be reduced by 45 per cent compared with emissions forecasts under current policies currently in just eight years and transforming the global economy to low-carbon will require investment of at least $US4 trillion to $6 trillion a year, the report said.

According to a separate UN report earlier this week analysing the latest pledges submitted by countries, 2.5 degrees of warming is likely by the end of the century.

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On Wednesday, the World Meteorological Organisation said greenhouse gas concentrations climbed at above-average rates to new records last year.

-Reuters