On Sunday 13 April, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report urging policymakers worldwide to curb the use of carbon-based fossil fuels.
The impartial group of scientists, made up of thousands of volunteers from across the globe, highlighted two key points in their report:
50% of the total man-made carbon emissions since 1750 have been produced in the last 40 years.
If measures aren’t taken to dramatically reduce carbon emissions, the Earth’s surface temperature will rise by up to four degrees Celsius in the next 80 years.
As a result of their findings, the IPCC are pushing for immediate changes to the energy sector to ensure that renewable energy sources become a viable alternative to the “dirty” fossil fuels such as coal and oil. Though damning in its assessment of coal and oil emissions, the report isn’t proposing an instant switch to renewable energy. Instead, the use of nuclear energy and natural gas could become part of the pathway to lower carbon emissions in the immediate future.
The working group’s vice chair, Prof Jim Skea emphasised that by 2050 carbon emissions need to be 40-70% lower than they were in 2010.
The only question remaining is how governments around the world will react to the IPCC’s recommendations and and who will provide the investment.
