Will it be possible to achieve decarbonization by 2050?

in ecoTrain3 years ago
Greetings dear friends.

Although several nations have made significant investments with the goal of achieving climate neutrality in the coming decades, a report recently published by the Cluster of Excellence, Climate, Climate Change and Society (CLICCS) concludes that the goal of achieving deep decarbonization by 2050 is not possible.


Complete decarbonization of the energy sector could be further away. Source: pixabay.com.

The report argues that most of the social drivers for achieving carbon neutrality in the world's major powers are insufficient. The researchers analyzed not only the possibility but also the plausibility from a techno-economic perspective of a zero-emission climate future, and also analyzed the societal changes that must occur to achieve such a future. The conclusion is that further efforts must be made to achieve societal transformation, a determining factor in achieving the ambitious goal.

The future of the climate does not only depend on the development of technology, so the researchers focused on analyzing its relationship with social changes. For the study, they focused on five aspects that they considered to be important drivers of social change: United Nations climate policy, national climate legislation, protests and social movements, disinvestment in fossil fuel industries and media coverage.


Public pressure and social movements are key to advancing change. Source: pixabay.com.

According to the report, none of these social drivers assessed currently appear to have sufficient momentum to promote the changes needed to achieve deep decarbonization by 2050, however most of the drivers assessed support the goal of zero net emissions and appear to be sufficient to promote gradual decarbonization, but achieving the Paris Agreement agreements is critical to advancing full decarbonization by mid-century and this will require strengthening nations' climate policies and more people pressuring their governments for effective climate action, and the return of protests after this pandemic will be an important factor.

The authors point out that at the moment the scenarios of high CO2 emissions and social factors do not make a significant change plausible without disinvestment in fossil fuel-based technologies, however, the study also points out that due to finite coal and oil resources and green technologies becoming more and more accessible, it will be very costly to maintain this approach, and companies and governments will have to change this energy scheme in the near future.

This report is not only a wake-up call for governments and companies, but also for the community in general, since social pressure is a determining factor in driving any change, and the challenge of motivating society to demand a cleaner climate is much greater than one might think, and it is fundamental for their governments to promote the actions that the planet needs.


Thanks for coming by to read friends, I hope you liked the information. See you next time.