The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is at its highest level in four million years. If we want to meet our goal of capping global warming at 2°C, urgent action is required to both slash emissions and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Emerging negative emissions technologies such as direct air capture and materials able to absorb massive amounts of carbon will play a crucial role, but large-scale demonstrations are still a decade away. That means we probably need to combine accelerated R&D efforts with aggressive carbon pricing, major reforestation, and new agricultural and industrial approaches that help create a circular economy.
- How can we get promising decarbonisation technologies out of the lab that are viable in the marketplace?
- How can we reach an agreement on a global minimum carbon price and how should we set carbon prices?
- How can we ensure that the burden of decarbonisation is shared equitably?
Takeaway messages
“The challenge is to expedite the technology to decarbonise the world by 2050, then reach net zero, then get to net negative, in a way that is fair to everyone.
”
“The “sharpest knife” for accomplishing decarbonisation is setting a global price, or tax, on CO2. GESDA can play an active role in communicating the need for global CO2 pricing and how urgently the world needs to act --- and in building trust among all communities.
”
“Research and technology assessment is needed. For many advanced materials, scaling up their use from the lab to industries has not yet been demonstrated.
”
“The 2° Paris target is gone in ten to 15 years; the 1.5° target is already gone.
”
“Clean energy provides a better business model than fossil fuels, and business leaders cannot afford to wait any longer to make the transition. Many of the technologies needed are already here.
”
More information
- Session recording on YouTube
- Related interviews: Janos Pasztor, Wendy Lee Queen, Gerald Haug
- Tweets related to the session