According to a new study, climate protection efforts around the world are lagging far behind the goal of limiting global warming to a tolerable level. There is a lack of speed in the energy, industry, transport and restructuring of agriculture and forestry sectors, among other things. Only the global sales figures for electric cars are in line with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial times, according to the “State of Climate Action” report published on Tuesday by the World Resources Institute (WRI), NewClimate Institute and Climate Analytics and the Bezos Earth Fund shows.
In the study, the 1.5 degree target agreed in Paris in 2015 is specifically translated into specifications for individual sectors. The results are bleak, as study author Sophie Boehm from WRI said. “Despite decades of dire warnings and wake-up calls, our politicians have failed to mobilize anything close to climate action at the pace and scale required.” Of the 42 indicators examined, only the sale of electric cars is on track to achieve the milestones calculated for 2030.
Here are some examples from the report
The share of solar and wind energy has increased by an average of 14 percent annually in recent years. But 24 percent would be necessary to get to 1.5 degrees by 2030. According to the study, the pace of phasing out coal would have to increase sevenfold. Converted, this means that around 240 coal-fired power plants would have to be shut down every year by 2030. Forest destruction: From 2021 to 2022, the deforested area increased from 5.4 to 5.8 million hectares, which is roughly equivalent to the area of Croatia. Climate-damaging subsidies: Defiance Despite promises to the contrary, state subsidies for oil, gas and coal almost doubled from 2020 to 2021 – also because of the energy crisis in the wake of Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine.
Investments continue in gas and coal power
Claire Fyson from Climate Analytics said it was absurd to continue investing heavily in gas and coal power as the climate crisis escalates. At the UN climate conference in Dubai in December, all governments around the world would have to agree on a fair and rapid exit from oil, gas and coal.
