CO ₂ emissions grew in all G20 countries last year

Limiting global warming to below 1.5º would reduce the impacts of climate change by 70%. However, more and more experts are pointing out that this goal set in the Paris Agreement – although affordable – cannot be achieved without greater ambition on the part of the world’s major economies. On Monday, the Brown to Green report was published, which analyzes the climate policies and actions of the G20 countries; the document warns that none of the members is currently on track to meet the requirements necessary to achieve that goal.

Prepared by the NGO Climate Transparency, it points out that the current trend leads us to an increase of 3° above pre-industrial levels by the end of this century. If that figure is reached, the climate impacts will be more severe and will increase the risk that the planet will exceed “critical tipping points”, after which it will experience profound and irreversible systemic changes. That includes catastrophic sea-level rise, as well as droughts and floods that can threaten the livelihoods of many populations, such as access to clean water.

The authors underline that 2020 will be a key year in climate action. Next year, all countries are expected to submit revised national targets and plans, an issue that will be at the heart of the COP25 negotiations in Madrid. “It’s very relevant because it shows governments how they could improve their emissions targets just weeks before they meet in Madrid to review the Paris Agreement,” explains Lena Donat, a researcher at the NGO Germanwatch and co-author of the report.

LIMIT DROUGHTS AND HEAT WAVES

Maintaining the overall increase in its minimum levels would help to reduce the average duration of droughts by 68% and to make the number of annual days above 35°C 30 instead of 50. It would also limit the disruptions that are being experienced in agriculture, with increasingly lower crop growth cycles, as well as reduced rainfall and heat waves. “Next year is going to be very important: countries know that they must increase their objectives because the world is on track for a temperature of 2.7º or 3.5º higher,” explains another of the authors, Enrique Maurtua Konstantinidis, head of the Biosphere Foundation.

The top 20 economies on the planet are responsible for 80% of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. In 2018, GHG emissions increased in all sectors of these countries, especially in construction. In addition, the report considers that the current climate objectives presented by their governments for the year 2030 are too conservative. “Transport and construction are two of the most problematic sectors,” Dunat says. “Although many governments have created policies to make buildings more efficient, they are implemented correctly. In transport, which accounts for 20% of emissions, progress is being made on issues such as electric vehicles but freight transport is being ignored.”

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE EU

In the case of the European Union, although emissions are decreasing in percentage, the report reflects that the increase in consumption and economic growth mean that current efforts fall short. The authors therefore consider that the target of reducing emissions below “40% compared to 1990 levels” is not sufficient to reach the target of 1.5º. “Economic growth leads to an increase in demand, and with it to a growth in emissions,” donat adds. “We see renewable energy growing, but also fossil fuels.”

However, the EU has adopted a package of measures with which it intends to reach a more ambitious figure than the one signed in Paris, which would be in line with objective 1.5. These measures would translate into a reduction of 58%, which the authors believe could be taken up to 62% with some modifications. “The energy transition has to be fair,” concedes Maurtua Konstantinidis, “but it is clear that the countries that lead it will be in a better position to adapt to the new reality.”

Specifically, they recommend three measures: adopting a zero emissions target by 2050 and increasing reduction commitments by 2030; that 100% of the cars sold in Community territory do not emit CO₂ and a moratorium to curb the expansion of gas infrastructure (gas pipelines and liquefied natural gas ports).

The report, which includes 80 economic and environmental indicators, is one of the most comprehensive reviews of climate action by the world’s 20 major economies. It analyses its strengths and weaknesses in its efforts to reduce emissions, adapt to climate effects and achieve greener taxation. It has been developed based on data obtained in the latest analyses published by the OECD and the World Bank.

Source: El Mundo