Brussels, 14/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - According to the third part of the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published in Berlin on Sunday 13 April, the situation is serious but not yet hopeless. This report also describes the EU's goals in this area as positive.
Despite the reduction policies, global greenhouse gas emissions have risen to an unprecedented level and even increased faster between 2000 and 2010 than during the three previous decades, due to the use of fossil fuels and demographic pressure. The report states that it is still possible to keep temperature rise to below 2°C compared to the pre-industrial era if we act with speed and determination, making use of a broad range of technologies and changing our behaviour. Greenhouse gas emission levels could be reduced by 2050 at a world level by 40-70% compared to 2010 levels and we could be close to zero emission levels by the end of the century, states this report. The IPCC says that, if there is no change in the current situation and without a far-reaching and swift change in the world's energy mix (which still prioritises coal and gas), the average rises in the temperatures of the Earth's surface will reach 3.7°C-4.8°C by 2100.
No Plan B. Connie Hedegaard said that “the report is clear: there really is no plan B for climate change. There is only plan A: collective action to reduce emissions now. And since we need first movers to set a plan into motion, we in Europe will adopt an ambitious 2030 target later this year” (the target being discussed is a reduction of at least 40% in emissions, in compliance with that advocated by the IPCC for the EU and 27% share of energy production for renewables). She added, addressing the other major economies, such as the US and China: “Now the question is: when will YOU, the big emitters, do the same? The more you wait, the more it will cost. The more you wait, the more difficult it will be”.
Stabilising greenhouse gas concentrations in the Earth's atmosphere will require reduced emissions in many sectors - energy production and consumption, transport, construction, industry, land use and human settlements. Bringing emissions down from electricity production to a level close to zero will be decisive and this option is included in all ambitious emissions mitigation projects but using energy efficiently is also important, emphasises the IPCC.
The Climate Change 2014; Mitigation of Climate Change report analyses 1,200 scenarios set out in scientific literature elaborated by 31 teams of modelling experts that explored economic, technological and institutional prerequisites, as well as the implications of reducing the different target levels. (AN)