Once again the world's leaders did not get agreement as to how
CO2 emissions should be reduced/set off by 2050
How to reach the global target set up in Paris last 2015 is still a matter of discussion. That target called upon for holding global temperature anomaly below 2ºC by end of century. Which means reaching almost 50% reduction in volume of emissions by 2050 to get the target threshold. The large obstacle to achieve it is the high dependence on fossil fuels to generate electricity. In the case of EU this is the picture, not too different from many other large economies' pictures:
To phase out fossil fuels to generate electricity can hardly be speeded up. Around 80% of current energy generation is still coming out from the fossil fuels (coal, gas, etc.). Consecuently, Producing energy without burning fossil fuels (decarbonizing the production of energy) will be critically important. (1)
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| Silesia miners in 2018. (Source: The WhashingtonPost on line) |
Third setback: Where funds would come from to make such a convertion? See our LINKEDIN report on this matter (A). With regards funding the projects, there seems to be a positive picture, as UNEP calculated it in 2012:
The new UNEP report demonstrates that a transition to a green economy is possible by investing 2% of global GDP per year (currently about US 1.3 trillion) between now and 2050 in a green transformation of key sectors, including agriculture, buildings, energy, fisheries, forests, manufacturing, tourism, transport, water and waste management. However, such investments must be spurred by national and international policy reforms.(B)
In this ocassion the Italian government has demanded an amount of 180000 million US$ a year to effectively reach the targeted averaged temperature of the planet. Out of the 2ºC aim, one degree was already achieved in 2015 while the Paris Climate Deal was on progress. On the other hand, scientists alert that the second degree could well be reached by 2050, instead of 2099 (1) should actions are not kirk start. And one of the most critical one is to reduce level of emission down to 50% in 30 years time. This is the main subject proponents of the Katowice summit have delayed until the next meeting to be held in Chile by December 2019. Before this meeting ONU will call for another summit in September 2019 in order to discuss this situation.
https://youtu.be/0UtD7mtlZSM
Bibliography and Further info:
A) Surf in https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/enough-money-clear-sky-ground-sea-prof-j-hugo-von-veschler/
B) Excerpted from Prof Von Veschler book on Environment, chapter "UNEP, Green Economy", p.222.
(1) http://oneworld.org/2016/09/26/global-warming-flashpoint-could-be-reached-by-2050-warn-scientists/