Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change

As per the report, the total anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have continued to increase through 2010-2019. The average annual GHG emissions have been higher during this period than in the decade before, but the growth rate of the emissions has been slower. 

During 2010-2019, expansions in industry, energy supply, transport, agriculture and buildings accounted for an increasing share of net anthropogenic GHG emissions. On the other hand, improvements in energy intensity – units of energy consumed per unit of gross domestic product – led to considerable reductions in GHG emissions.

The IPCC measures the impact of GHG emissions on global warming by measuring them against the amount of carbon dioxide which would lead to the same increase in global warming. In 2015, GHG emissions from urban areas were about 25 GtCO2-eq (one GtCO2-eq being equivalent to one billion tonnes of carbon dioxide). This accounted for about 62 per cent of the total global GHG emissions in 2015. The number rose to 29 GtCO2-eq, around 67-72 per cent of the total global emissions, in 2020.

After 2020, only 500 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide can be emitted before levels of global warming rise beyond 1.5°C. Moreover, about 1,150 gigatonnes of CO2 can be emitted before the rise in global warming levels increases beyond 2°C.

Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel and industrial processes temporarily fell in the first half of 2020 owing to precautions taken during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, they bounced back by the end of the year, the report states.

The report notes that a large portion of the population living in countries which emit lower levels of GHG lack access to clean, reliable, and affordable energy resources. However, eradicating extreme poverty and improving living standards in low-emission countries can be achieved without significant increase in global GHG emission levels.

The report warns that if climate change mitigation policies are not strengthened, GHG emissions would continue rising beyond the year 2025 and would result in a median warming of 3.2°C by 2100.

The report suggests that changes in urban infrastructure (density, land use, connectivity and accessibility) paired with the development of cheap public transport could reduce GHG emissions considerably.

Economic incentives to reduce GHG emissions and removal of fossil fuel subsidies would aid in reducing the impact of climate change. By 2030, removal of subsidies in fossil fuel would reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by 1-4 per cent and GHG emissions by 10 per cent. However, removal of subsidies on fossil fuels might negatively impact people who are economically vulnerable. Hence, such removal of subsidies must be accompanied by relief measures, the report adds.

In the long term, efforts for mitigating climate change which are designed keeping in mind local communities and implemented with the aims of sustainable development for all will prove to be more effective.

Focus and Factoids by Amarabati Bhattacharyya.

PARI Library's health archive project is part of an initiative supported by the Azim Premji University to develop a free-access repository of health-related reports relevant to rural India.