NEW DELHI: Without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C is beyond reach and this requires global greenhouse gas emissions to peak before 2025 at the latest, and be reduced by 43 per cent by 2030, said the latest series of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report.
What is of concern is that the report highlights that even if we do this, it is almost inevitable that we will temporarily exceed this temperature threshold but could return to below it by the end of the century.
“It’s now or never if we want to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, it will be impossible. Action in this decade is critical to capture the mitigation potential of buildings,” said IPCC Working Group III Co-Chair Jim Skea.
This assessment shows that limiting warming to around 2°C still requires global greenhouse gas emissions to peak before 2025 at the latest, and be reduced by a quarter by 2030.
The intergovernmental panel finds that all unabated coal-fired power plants need to be shuttered by 2050 if the world is to limit global temperature rise to 1.5c. Global use of coal would need to fall by 95 per cent by 2050 compared to 2020. As far as India is concerned, it is still in process of constructing coal power plants and none of them have the capture and store carbon (CCS) technology as recommended in the report.
The publication of the report was delayed due as the rich nations wanted dilution of text on climate financing for the developing nations and small countries.
On the finance part, the report noted that annual public and private finance for climate change mitigation and adaptation rose by up to 60 per cent from 2013 to 2020 but these gains have slowed in recent years, and finance for fossil fuels still outstrips funding for climate action.
“Financial flows are a factor of three to six times lower than levels needed by 2030 to limit warming to below 2°C though there is sufficient global capital and liquidity to close investment gaps,” it noted.
Current climate policies and pledges are massively insufficient: If NDCs are followed to 2030, it is "likely" the world will pass 1.5C and there is no way to limit warming to 1.5C with "no or limited overshoot"
Limiting global warming will require major transitions in the energy sector. This will involve a substantial reduction in fossil fuel use, widespread electrification, improved energy efficiency, and use of alternative fuels (such as hydrogen).
“Having the right policies, infrastructure, and technology in place to enable changes to our lifestyles and behavior can result in a 40-70 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The evidence also shows that these lifestyle changes can improve our health and wellbeing,” said IPCC Working Group III Co-Chair Priyadarshi Shukla.