The latest IPCC report finds that there are ‘options across all sectors’ to at least halve emissions by 2030, but ‘deep and immediate’ action is required to make this happen.
Published yesterday (April 4, 2022), the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stressed that while annual average greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were at their highest levels in human history between 2010 and 2019, the rate of growth has slowed.
Since 2010, the cost of solar, wind, and batteries has continued to fall by as much as 85 percent, according to the IPCC. sectors.
“We are at a crossroads. The decisions we make now can secure a livable future. We have the tools and know-how needed to limit global warming,” said IPCC chairman Hoesung Lee.
“I am encouraged by climate action being taken in many countries. There are policies, regulations and market instruments that prove to be effective. If scaled up and applied more broadly and equitably, they can support far-reaching emissions reductions and drive innovation.”
The report calls for ‘major transitions’ in the energy sector with large-scale electrification, improved energy efficiency and the use of alternative fuels such as hydrogen.
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Cities and other urban areas are highlighted as an important opportunity for emissions reduction, with recommendations such as creating ‘compact, walkable cities’, electrification of transport combined with low-emission energy sources, and enhanced carbon uptake and storage using nature.
Meanwhile, industry needs to use materials more efficiently and minimize waste. For feedstocks, including steel, construction materials and chemicals, low-to-zero GHG manufacturing processes are in pilot to near-commercial phase, the IPCC said, adding that reaching net zero will be a challenge for the industry , which accounts for about a quarter of global emissions.
While agriculture and other land uses can deliver large-scale emission reductions and remove and store CO2 on a large scale, the IPCC emphasized that land cannot compensate for the delayed emission reductions in other sectors.
In the assessed scenarios, limiting warming to around 1.5°C requires global greenhouse gas emissions to peak by 2025 at the latest and to be reduced to 43 percent by 2030. Methane should also be reduced by about a third.
Even if this is achieved, the IPCC said it is “almost inevitable” that we will temporarily exceed that temperature limit, but it could be back below that limit by the end of the century.
Nick Cooper, CEO of storeggasaid technology-based solutions should do “much of the heavy lifting for carbon removal.”
“Direct air capture is industrial and not very glamorous, but it uses little land and gives us a great opportunity to remove CO2 permanently,” Cooper noted. “It also provides the opportunity to create and transfer large numbers of tech jobs in the UK.
“In the future, and if deployed on a large scale, direct air capture technology could even reverse the historic damage to the environment since the industrial revolution.”
Looking beyond technologies, the report finds that while financial flows are a factor of three to six times lower than the levels needed to limit warming to below 2°C by 2030, there is sufficient capital and liquidity worldwide. to close investment gaps.
However, the report calls for clear signals from governments and the international community, including closer coordination of public finances and policies.
Professor Sir Jim McDonald FREng FRSE, president of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said the report makes ‘clearer than ever’ the need to accelerate progress on the current trajectory of warming to 3.2°C by 2100.
“The report makes it clear that the cost of the transition should not be an excuse for delay – the economic argument of the report authors is strong, highlighting that options for reducing costs could cut global greenhouse gas emissions by at least half by 2030. from 2019 levels, while GDP can still grow,” McDonald noted.
“All of this means that the solution to both the UK’s short-term energy crisis and our long-term climate challenge is the same; doubling our efforts on mitigation policies that focus on shifting from fossil fuels to renewables, reducing demand and adapting buildings.”
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