By Juliana Birnbaum, June 12, 2024
Source: https://mailchi.mp/regeneration.org/the-waggle-global-emissions-turning-point

The world reached a monumental tipping point in the past year, and this one is good! According to new data estimates from BloombergNEF, global carbon dioxide emissions are starting to fall for the first time since the start of the Industrial Revolution. The data aligns with projections made by Climate Analytics last November that 2023 was the year of peak emissions, led by the explosive growth of renewable energy capacity. While forecasting emissions is not an exact science, the fact that humans are finally reducing the production of greenhouse gases is certainly worth celebrating. However, the decline will not be a rapid one– even if combating climate change were a top priority of every nation and corporation (which it isn’t), it would take at least two decades to fully transition to net zero emissions. The BloombergNEF report lays out a spectrum of scenarios. The most optimistic is that the world will reach net zero by 2050 with extraordinary decarbonization efforts, resulting in a temperature rise of 1.75 degrees above preindustrial levels. The other end has emissions falling by just 27 percent by mid-century, resulting in a 2.6-degree increase and accompanying extreme weather and sea level rise. Which direction we go depends on many factors, but the faster we can implement a wide range of solutions, the better chance we have of averting the worst consequences of climate change.

Source with links: https://mailchi.mp/regeneration.org/the-waggle-global-emissions-turning-point