As the world marks fifth anniversary of the adoption of the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change, a promising movement for carbon neutrality is taking shape – António Guterres, Secretary-General of United Nations.
Net-zero emission goal is crucial to limit global warming, as outlined in the Paris Agreement goals on climate change; and the technology calls for rapid scale-up of CCUS. With the world still falling short meeting the goals of holding global temperature rise this century to under 20C, and pursue 1.50C action to reduce climate impact of cooling will be essential. The objective of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) strategy aims to reduce carbon emission by either storing or reusing it, so that captured carbon dioxide does not enter the atmosphere. Initiative to accelerate CCUS methodology must focus on R&D and innovation to the development of CO2 capture, utilisation and storage technologies. India has joined forces with France, Germany, Greece, Norway, Romania, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States to achieve the said objectives.
Globally, power and industry account for about 50% of all greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Trapping and storing CO2 emissions from fossil power generation and industry is needed to achieve carbon neutrality, UN’s Economic Commission for Europe said in a report. It said large-scale deployment of CCUS technology would allow countries to decarbonise these sectors, thus bridging the gap until innovative next generation carbon energy technologies become available.
David Aitken, Director, Innovation at Carbon Trust said, “Efforts to race to net zero cooling present an incredible opportunity to meet ambitious climate, environment and development goals and unlock the clean energy transition. These tools show how we can get there.”
A report, ‘Cooling Suppliers: Who’s Winning the Race to Net Zero’, released by the Race to Zero campaign, Kigali Cooling Efficiency Program (K-CEP), Carbon Trust and other partners in the UN Environment Programme hosted: ‘Cool Coalition’ – assesses cooling firms against three impact areas defined in the Cooling Climate Action Pathway as: Super-efficient equipment and appliances; Passive cooling and Ultra-low GWP refrigerants.
Dan Hamza-Goodacre, K-CEP’s Non-Executive Director says, “From healthcare and agriculture, to transportation and buildings, the environmental performance of cooling impacts many sectors’ pathways to zero carbon emissions. We won’t get to net zero without concerted and ambitious action on cooling.”
While the pandemic temporarily reduced emissions, carbon dioxide levels are still at record highs – and rising. The new normal is seeing fires, floods, droughts and storms. Biodiversity is collapsing, deserts are spreading, and oceans are warming, choking with plastic waste. Science tells us to cut fossil fuel production by 6% every year, between now and 2030. Instead, the world is on track for a 2% annual rise.
Opportunity in green investing
Trends indicate cost is barrier. It is time to integrate the goal of carbon neutrality into all economic decision-making. For Europe alone, an estimated 320 billion Euros will be needed for CCUS deployment planned to 2050, plus another 50 billion for required transport infrastructure.
Private capital flows need to turn towards sustainability. The good news is: there is plenty of opportunity for green investment growth – green bond market may reach a cumulative $1 trillion in 2021, but that is still 1% of the total $100 trillion bond market.
George Oliver, chairman and CEO of Johnson Controls, mentions categorically that catalyzing a green transformation through private investment is a necessary step on the path to net zero, and smart public policy can serve as a key enabler. Swift action by the Biden administration can help accelerate the global race to a net zero carbon economy. He says, company has committed to moving its operations to net-zero emissions by 2040.
Covid and climate have brought us to a threshold. We must step towards a more safer and sustainable path. We must make pandemic recovery and climate action two sides of the same coin. Nature-based solutions could provide one-third of the net reductions in GHGs.
Carbon neutrality and Net zero
Carbon neutrality balances between emitting carbon and absorbing carbon from the atmosphere in carbon sinks, which is any system that absorbs more carbon than it emits. Removing carbon oxide from the atmosphere and then storing it is known as carbon seizure. The main natural carbon sinks are soil, forests and oceans. According to estimates, natural sinks remove between 9.5 and 11 Gt of CO2 per year. Annual global CO2 emissions reached 38.0 Gt in 2019. The carbon stored in natural sinks such as forests, is released into the atmosphere through forest fires, changes in land use or logging. This is why, it is essential to reduce carbon emissions in order to reach climate neutrality.
‘Net-zero Emissions must be met by 2050. Excerpts from UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message to the summit “Finance in Common”: … And so, our shared responsibility is equally clear: redouble our efforts to recover from the economic and social crisis and get on track to achieve the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and build a sustainable, inclusive and resilient future… I am encouraged by the growing number of countries committing to the net zero targets.’
European Union pledged to become the first carbon-neutral continent by 2050. The United Kingdom, Japan and the Republic of Korea, together with more than 110 other countries, have pledged carbon neutrality by 2050, and China has pledged to get there before 2060. This means that 50% of the world’s GDP, and about 50% of global carbon dioxide emissions, are now covered by a net-zero commitment.
Pledges to carbon neutrality
Climate change is affecting the entire world. Every country, city, financial institution and company should adopt plans for net zero – and act now, means cutting global emissions by 45% by 2030 compared with 2010 levels. In order to limit global warming to 1.50C – what IPCC suggests is safe – carbon neutrality by mid-21st century is essential. This target is also laid down in the Paris agreement signed by 195 countries, including EU.
China pledges to become carbon neutral by 2060 – reports South China Morning Post. It also pledged to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by ‘at least’ 65% from 2005 levels by 2030. President Xi Jinping told in a meeting that China’s efforts to achieve carbon neutrality would bring a far-reaching and deep systemic social and economic transformation. Shanghai is aiming to lead the country to peak carbon emissions by 2025, five years ahead of the national goal.
European Union goal by 2050
Under the Green Deal, EU aims to become the first continent that removes as many CO2 emissions as it produces by 2050. Currently five EU countries have set the target of climate neutrality in law: Sweden aims to reach net-zero emissions by 2045 and Denmark, France, Germany and Hungary by 2050. The EU’s interim emission reduction target for 2030 would also be updated from the current 40% reduction to a more ambitious one. In addition, members called for all EU countries individually to become climate neutral and insisted that after 2050, more CO2 should be removed from atmosphere than is emitted.
Exploration company Foran Mining aims Canada’s first copper mine to be carbon neutral from day one reads miningweekly.com. It has bolstered the design team for its ongoing feasibility study at its McIlvenna Bay deposit in Saskatchewan, where it aims to build Canada’s first copper mine that is designed to be carbon neutral from day one of production. The production of copper and zinc is critical as the world transitions to a low carbon future, as these metals are used in the production of renewable energy assets and electronic industries.
India may lurch to achieve target of carbon neutrality by 2050. India is the world’s third-biggest carbon emitter after China and the United States. And, its per-capita emissions are an eighth of those of United States and less than a third of China’s. India is unlikely to bind itself to a net-zero GHG emissions goal by 2050, government sources told Reuters. India will stick to the Paris pledge to reduce its carbon footprint by 33-35% from its 2005 levels by 2030 and is aiming to outperform those goals. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target of generating 450 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030 which is five times current capacity and two and half times the Paris pledge.
Johnson Controls commits net zero carbon emissions before 2040. “Johnson Controls is proud of its recent commitment to achieve the most ambitious science-based targets by 2030 and net zero carbon emissions before 2040,” said Clay Nesler, vice president global energy and sustainability at Johnson Controls.
Major U.S. airlines commit to becoming carbon neutral by 2050. Airlines for America, which represents American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and others said, it is committed to working with the aviation industry and the government to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
South Korea launches committee on carbon neutrality in transport sector, with automobile firms in line with efforts to effectively reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2050, reads koreaherald.com. The transportation sector accounts for 14% of the country’s emissions of greenhouse gases. The committee will pave the way for the government to expand cooperation with local carmakers, including Hyundai Motor Group, in rolling out policies related to carbon neutrality, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is expected to announce a 2030 target for reducing emissions at a summit soon, and later possibly set a target date for becoming carbon neutral.
World of Books Group, UK’s largest retailer of used books to be Carbon Neutral by 2022, announced plans to be a carbon neutral business by 2022, according to Pressat release. This commitment forms the first step in their road-map to Net Zero by 2030. Last year, the business met their pledge to reduce their carbon footprint for each book sold by 30%, paving the way for their journey to carbon neutrality.
Amy Greenacre, Head of Impact and Sustainability at World of Books Group said, “Challenge and change is inevitable, but it causes us to adapt and continually improve – to be the change we seek in the world. As the world around us is changing, our sense of responsibility, purpose and drive to make a difference remains the same. Climate change is a real and imminent threat to our planet, so we’re always taking action to reduce our carbon footprint and are now able to pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2022.”
Microsoft to be carbon negative by 2030
2030:Photo by Brian Smale.
Carbon negative means that a company is removing more carbon than it emits each year. For Microsoft, Carbon neutrality refers to achieving net zero carbon emissions by offsetting gross carbon emissions from operations with an equivalent amount of renewable energy and carbon sequestered or offset.
They announced a goal and a new plan to reduce and ultimately remove Microsoft’s carbon footprint. Microsoft will be carbon negative by 2030, says Brad Smith, the President, in the official Microsoft Blog. And, by 2050 Microsoft will remove from the environment all the carbon the company has emitted either directly or by electrical consumption since founded in 1975.
Elaborating further he says, we are also launching a new $1 billion climate innovation fund to accelerate the global development of carbon reduction, capture, and removal technologies. Beginning 2021, we will also make carbon reduction an explicit aspect of our procurement processes for our supply chain.
By 2030, Microsoft will remove more carbon than it emits, setting a path to remove by 2050 all the carbon, the company has emitted, either directly or by electrical consumption since founded in 1975. It will achieve this through a portfolio of negative emission technologies (NET) potentially including afforestation and reforestation, soil carbon sequestration, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, and direct air capture.
Olga Algayerova, the UNECE Executive Secretary said, “Strong political will is needed to make affordable, clean, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all a reality by 2030.” As the time is running out to deliver fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement which will be marked on two agendas: Climate Change and the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals.
According to the International Energy Agency, emissions from cooling are expected to double by 2030 and triple by 2100, driven by heat waves, population growth, urbanization, and a growing middle class. By 2050, space cooling alone will consume as much electricity as China and India today.
Actionable future
Pertinently, it’s time for intensive actions. Climate crisis is a future monster – hiding in space above and all superior to any calamity worth imagining. Pandemic recovery gives us a vital opportunity to re-imagine our future. CCUS can achieve significant CO2 reductions, so, challenge towards carbon capture innovation is to enable near-zero CO2 emissions from power plants – fuelled by coal, natural gas, biomass – and industrial applications.
Science has concluded, every year humanity pumps more than 50 billion MT of additional greenhouse gases into the air; in addition to more than 2 trillion metric tons of GHGs into the Earth’s atmosphere already, since mid-1700s. Ultimate aim is – we must reach ‘Net zero’ emissions, i.e., humanity must remove as much carbon, as it emits each year.
The need of the call is to build a global coalition for carbon neutrality by 2050, enhancing natural carbon sinks such as forests, wetlands and oceans. Carbon-neutral is planting trees to reduce CO2 by the same amount, as it produces it. If we don’t curb emissions, and temperatures continue to climb, science tells us that the results will be cataclysmic. Hence, all of us should agree to undertake rapid reductions. The decisions we make now, will determine the course of the next 30 years and beyond: emissions must fall by half by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions no later than 2050 to reach the 1.50C goal, which means to deploy net zero technology for universal goodness of future generation.
Spruced up Earth Day summit hosted by US President Biden on April 22 for leaders of 40 countries including India and China, is being followed by a G7 meeting in Britain, to which India has been invited. UN has identified cooling as a key sector to galvanize action ahead of the coming global climate conference i.e., 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) during November 1-12, 2021, in Glasgow, Scotland.
