Pathways to Net Zero
摘要
Since the target of not going over 1.5C above pre-industrial levels by 2050, as agreed at COP-21 (Paris AgreementParis Agreement) in 2015, has been exceeded in every month since mid-2023, there may appear to be little point in focusing upon the pathways to achieve it. Now the race is to keep global average temperatures below 2.0C, but also to find ways to revert to lower temperatures through carbon mitigation, notably through carbon avoidanceCarbon avoidance wherever possible, carbon reductionCarbon reduction as a standard practice, and carbon removal as and when the expensive technology, which literally sucks carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the air and buries it, becomes scalable. The Paris goals are for net-zero emissions of CO2 by 2050, of other GHG reductions, such as methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and synthetic chemicals like hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) by 2070, and of all GHGs net negative by 2100. But this is most likely inadequate to avoid the risk of tipping points and runaway climate change. Net negative by 2050 should be the revised target. This chapter reviews the pathways suggested by the IPCCIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – Pathways and the intergovernmental International Renewable EnergyRenewable energy Agency (IRENA)International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) - Scenarios.