The Climate Crisis Advisory Group (CCAG), which is made up of climate experts, has published a report warning that the net-zero carbon emissions targets to be achieved by 2050 could be "too little too late".
Drawing on the recent IPCC report, which warned that climate change has already caused irreversible damage and that our actions in the next nine years will be critical to climate control, the CCAG state that "Should we fail to act now with determination and speed, the price that will be paid by humanity and by our biosystems is far too steep to consider."
The Paris Agreement, adopted by 196 parties in 2015, aims to keep warming to no more than 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels. However, the CCAG report suggests that even if net-zero emissions are met by 2050 it will not be enough to reach the goals in the Paris Agreement. Therefore the Group has stated that "emissions reductions must happen much more rapidly than current proposals," arguing that net negative emissions targets are required instead. This is essentially where more carbon is removed from the atmosphere than is currently emitted.
Using these concerns as a foundation, the CCAG has put forward an idea for climate repair, based on three pillars - reduction in emissions, removal of greenhouse gases, and repair areas that have hit their tipping point, such as the polar ice caps. Central to the achievement of the strategy will be the promotion of political and financial responses. Regarding the second pillar - removal - the Group claims that technologies capable of capturing 1 billion tons of CO2 per year should be the only ones under consideration "since scalability is critical in any response to the current crisis."
Speaking about the report Sir David King, chair of the CCAG, said "The latest IPCC report is the surest assessment to date of the global catastrophe on our hands should our leaders not take immediate, concerted action in confronting the climate crisis.
"It's clearer than ever that there is no carbon budget remaining, and there really is no room left for manoeuvre; this is our 'now or never' moment."
