The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report October 2018
The latest IPCC from the meeting in Korea makes it plain that time is running out to achieve the much needed, less than 1.5C temperature rise by 2050. “The report finds that limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require “rapid and far-reaching” transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities. Global net human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) would need to fall by about 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching ‘net zero’ around 2050. This means that any remaining emissions would need to be balanced by removing CO2 from the air.” You can read the IPCC press release here
The good news is that human society has the means to achieve this, but we need the political will and to be able to put aside vested interests in fossil fuel industry for the good of humanity as a whole. While there are always those that deny the evidence of thousands of peer reviewed scientists, it is true that 84% of Australians are seeking effective action on climate change. Regrettably our Federal Government is very reluctant to take such action and appears to be beholden to the coal and gas industry which only comprises 5% of GDP.
The Guardian reported on the Coalition’s response “The Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, has claimed Australia will meet its Paris climate agreement targets of reducing emissions by 26% to 28% on 2005 levels by 2030 “in a canter”.
The claim is contradicted by environment department figures showing emissions are rising and advice from the Energy Security Board that Australia will fall short under a business-as-usual scenario.”
Read The Guardian article here
Australian industry is leading the way with investment in renewable energy and some State Governments have initiated renewable projects that are starting to come on stream.
The big Tesla battery in South Australia is demonstrating its worth despite the critics.
The jobs of the future are in renewables and sustainability, not coal, so Gecko wonders why our Federal Government that purports to support innovation and industry and creation of jobs is not backing the growth industries.
You can read the full Summary of IPPC report here “The Summary for Policymakers of the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5ºC (SR15)
