UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, introducing a new United Nations-backed report outlining pathways major industrial economies can use to cut their carbon emissions by mid-century, called today for broad cooperation and “bold” action or the world will face dangerous and irreversible climate disruption.

“We know that we are not on track, and time is not on our side,” Ban warned during a Headquarters press conference to launch the Deep Decarbonisation Pathway Project report, produced by leading research institutes in 15 countries, is the first global cooperative program to identify practical pathways to a low-carbon economy by 2050.

The report compiled by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, established by the UN chief in 2012, emphasizes three key pillars: energy efficiency, low-carbon electricity and fuel switching. It also outlines steps countries can take to meet internationally agreed target of limiting the increase in global mean surface temperature to less than 2 ˚C.