UN climate expert urges rapid reduction in fossil fuel use

ISTANBUL – An official of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) urged rapid actions to end or minimize the usage of fossil fuels by the end of the decade. IPCC is a UN body responsible for advancing knowledge on human-induced climate change.

Joyashree Roy, one of the authors of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report claimed that the options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 were available at very low costs.

She said the most important message of the report is that options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least half by 2030 are available for $100 per ton of carbon dioxide emissions or even less. Many of these options are available even at a cost of less than $20 per ton of CO2 equivalent.

“So, what it means is that if these options are taken up, then it is less costly to achieve this emission reduction by half by 2030. So now we have the options and we know these technologies, so it is possible to do,” she added.

Evaluating the third volume of the Working Group Report of the Sixth Assessment Report, published on April 4, Roy said “unless there are immediate and deep emission reductions across all sectors, 1.5 degree Celsius is beyond reach,” and that it is a very important message for the world.

“It will make it harder to limit warming after 2030 to below 2°C even. This is a real alarming message that we should act now so that we can think in terms of the planned stabilization of the temperature,” she said.

“We are still in the age of fossil fuels. We need actions in this decade so that the fossil fuel use reduces,” she said, adding that the report indicates through scientific assessment that in every sector there are options available to reduce the use of fossil fuels.

– Important role for policymakers

Roy underscored the importance of policymakers, investors, citizens and financial institutions.

“It is not that something new has to be invented and also what we have seen is that the monetary benefits to emission reduction come from solar and wind energy, energy-efficiency improvement, reduce deforestation, soil carbon storage, and methane emission reduction,” said the IPCC official.

Roy said the financial flow to combat climate change so far is a matter of concern, as it is “at least three to six times lower than the level needed by 2030 to limit warming below 1.5 to 2°C.”

“But the assessment also gives the other side of the picture where it says that there is sufficient global capital and liquidity to close the investment gap,” she said.

“That means, in the capital market, there are funds available for investment. So, what is needed is clear signaling from the governments and the international community for including stronger alignment of public sector finance and policy to these mitigation actions, which increase human well-being as well as reduce emissions,” Roy added.

She highlighted that the developing countries face greater challenges in closing the investment gap.

Stressing “inequity has been in the heart of this report,” Roy quoted the report and said: “The consumption of top one percent contributes 15% of emissions and the bottom 90% contributes 48% of emissions.”

– High-income group has higher responsibility

Touching on the responsibility of those who have high income and high education to address the issue of high socio-economic status consumption, she added that they have the highest capacity to act and higher responsibility for reducing emissions.

Drawing attention to the significance of the ways to address inequity, Roy said the cost of more sustainable life goals differs from region to region and continued:

“Costs will vary from country to country because it depends on what measures are adopted, not that every measure is adaptable in every country. So, we need to look for what are the synergies with the Sustainable Development Goals,” she said.

Roy said there will be tough choices awaiting governments in the fields of infrastructure, new service provision, system energy transitions, policy and incentive, and public investment to shift towards sustainable and more resilient development.

The IPCC official warned that in case of two-degree warming by 2050, people in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Central, and South America, and small islands will experience food shortages, leading to malnutrition.