Yesterday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released their third report in a series of reports on the science, risks and solutions to climate change.
This report focused on the solutions available to policymakers to address and halt the climate crisis. It was accompanied by the message ‘it is now or never’ by Jim Skea the report co-chair.
If this message was stark, the commentary by UN secretary general António Guterres went even further, condemning western nations for contributing too much to the crisis and not doing enough to solve it: “Rich countries are not just turning a blind eye – they are adding fuel to the flames”.
Despite all of the net-zero targets from nations and corporations, carbon emissions are still on an upward trajectory. Unless there is rapid change in national policies and industrial practices, we are headed toward above 3°c global warming levels.
While these messages were powerful and the evidence behind them is resounding, there is also hope. The report clearly articulates that in most places there are viable solutions available to tackle the crisis.
While the report recognises that global GDP may be a few percentage points lower than current levels if the steps are taken to keep warming at 2°c, this estimate does not consider the broader social and indirect economic benefits of emissions reduction, nor the cost of the alternative course whereby the costs of inaction hit households, businesses and infrastructure.
The report expresses a high confidence that existing mitigation solutions costing less than $100 per tonne of avoided CO2 could cut global greenhouse gas emissions in half between 2019 and 2030.
It is now a political choice for governments across the world to make around if they are prepared to aggressively disrupt the status quo to deliver what is required to effectively protect against the worst of the climate crisis. These solutions include:
Rapid transition to renewables is required
Rapidly reduce the production of fossil fuels and replace them with aggressive investment in affordable solar and wind based renewables. Fossil fuel-producing countries successfully lobbied to include carbon capture and storage technology as a viable solution to protecting stranded assets within the report. However, in spite of this, reducing fossil fuel production emissions rapidly is still the most necessary solution and solar and wind expansion is affordable. This is absolutely required to cut emissions and have even a slim chance of staying within 1.5°c warming.
Electrification of key industries
To support the emissions reduction from a switch to renewables, there is a need for the electrification of industry that utilises burning of fossil fuels in their processes. This includes fuel for transportation, heat within industrial manufacturing, and space and water heating within buildings.
Efficiency
To further accelerate emissions we need a mass revolution of energy efficiency to reduce leakage and unnecessary fossil-fuel based energy production.
Research and development
While the report demonstrates the availability of viable solutions within the renewables, efficiency and electrification space, it calls for further research and development in emissions-heavy areas where solutions are expensive or constrained. This includes aerospace and construction where low-emission commercial flights, cement and steel are not yet ready for mass use.
Behaviour change
Enabling citizens to move away from the consumption of fossil fuel based-products is critical to address climate change. This means changing the way people move, eat, live and consume. We have viable alternatives in all of these spaces from bicycles, to meat-reduced diets and circular economy practices.
Conservation
Bio-based solutions are still the most effective way of sequestering carbon, and we must protect our forests, mangroves and other carbon sinks that will effectively continue to ingest emissions from the air. Key to this will be alternative diets and methods of farming that ensure conservation of natural resources.
At Clarasys, we understand the urgency that is required to implement these solutions, as well as the complexity of tackling these issues. If you need help in navigating how to address the crisis, then please get in touch via sustainability@clarasys.com.
