The Times - UK (2022-04-05)

16 2GM Tuesday April 5 2022 | the times

News

World leaders and businesses are

telling lies when they promise to tackle

climate change and there will be cata-

strophic consequences without imme-

diate and deep cuts in emissions, the

UN has warned.

The world is on course for a catastro-

phic 3.2C of warming by the end of the

century based on existing policies, ac-

cording to the Intergovernmental

Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

It says investment in emissions re-

duction is three to six times lower than

it needs to be by 2030 to limit warming

to below 2C.

António Guterres, the UN secretary

general, said the report was “a file of

shame” that exposed the empty pledges

made by some leaders of governments

and businesses.

“We are on a fast track to climate dis-

aster: major cities under water, unprec-

edented heatwaves, terrifying storms,

widespread water shortages [and] the

extinction of a million species of plants

and animals,” he said.

“Some government and business

leaders are saying one thing — but do-

ing another. Simply put, they are lying.

And the results will be catastrophic.”

Hoesung Lee, the climate change

panel chairman, said the report, pro-

duced by 278 scientists who analysed

18,000 studies, showed that “we have

the tools and know-how required to

limit warming. I am encouraged by

climate action being taken in many

countries. There are policies, regula-

tions and market instruments that are

proving effective. If these are scaled up

and applied more widely and equitably,

they can support deep emissions reduc-

tions and stimulate innovation.”

The report focuses on ways of mili-

tating climate change and is the third

report in the past nine months.

The first, in August, examined the

physical science of climate change and

was called a “code red for humanity” by

Daffy days Children from Mossneuk Primary School planted themselves firmly at the National Museum of Rural Life in East
Kilbride where visitors can explore by tractor, meet the farmyard animals and learn all about plants and the food chain

UN ‘file of shame’

exposes empty

climate promises

the UN. The second in February fo-

cused on the impacts of climate change.

The report warns that the world has

a very limited remaining “carbon bud-

get”, which is the amount of green-

house gas it can afford to emit without

breaching the 1.5C limit.

A total of 59 billion tonnes was emit-

ted in 2019 and only another 500 billion

tonnes can be emitted to have a 50 per

cent chance of limiting warming to 1.5C.

The report said:

Coal, gas and oil: About 80 per cent of

coal reserves, 50 per cent of gas, and

30 per cent of oil is “unburnable” if

warming is to be limited to 2C.

Transport: Emissions have been grow-

ing by 2 per cent a year globally, partly

due to heavier vehicles and “car centric

development” the report says.

Forests and farming: Protecting and

restoring forests, peatlands and wet-

lands could reduce emissions by seven

billion tonnes a year. Deforestation has

declined globally since 2010 but risen in

the Amazon.

Diet: Diets “high in plant protein and

low in meat and dairy” could lead to

substantial decreases in emissions.

Power: Wind and solar farms create

power as cheaply as fossil-fuel power

stations but deployment rates are “in-

sufficient to meet climate goals”.

Buildings: The report backs a rapid

shift to more efficient appliances, low-

energy lighting and renovations to re-

duce the need for heating and cooling.

Carbon dioxide removal: Methods of

removing carbon dioxide from the at-

mosphere will be essential to meet net

zero because of the need to counterbal-

ance emissions from sectors where

they are hard or impossible to remove.

Emissions must be cut dramatically,

leading article, page 33

Ben Webster Environment Editor

PAUL DODDS

Analysis

S

enior scientists

at the

Intergovern-

mental Panel on

Climate Change

(IPCC) have tried to

deliver a message of

hope, perhaps aware

that the public

switches off from

constant warnings of

the dire consequences

of rising emissions

(Ben Webster writes).

They said that

technologies needed

to avert catastrophic

climate change are

widely available and

getting cheaper. They

noted that growth in

global emissions has

slowed over the past

decade.

However, the

clearest message from

their report was that

the world is running

out of time to avert

disaster. The message

carries weight

because the report’s

“summary for

policymakers” has

been agreed by all

governments, making

them more likely to

act on its warnings.

This is the third

IPCC report in nine

months and is meant

to focus on mitigating

climate change. It is

an assessment of the

significant recent

research and

therefore offers no

new solutions.

The recommended

solutions have been

known for decades

and lack specifics on

timescales and

quantities. There

must be a “substantial

reduction in fossil fuel

use, widespread

electrification,

improved energy

efficiency, and use of

alternative fuels such

as hydrogen”.

The starkest

findings are on the

scale of the challenge.

The world’s remaining

“carbon budget” if it

is to avert disaster is

ten years’ emissions at

the present rate.

Global annual

emissions were 12 per

cent higher in 2019

than in 2010 and

54 per cent higher

than in 1990, when

the IPCC produced its

first report warning of

the urgent need to

tackle the problem.

Lack of action since

then means that the

IPCC now says it is

“almost inevitable”

that global average

temperatures will rise

by more than 1.5C.

Bringing it back to

a safe level will

depend partly on

mass use of methods

of sucking carbon

from the atmosphere,

the report said. The

danger is that

politicians and

businesses use that

prospect to defer

difficult decisions.