THREAD: UNEP #EmissionsGap Report 2020

Although the COVID-19 pandemic will cause a dip in 2020 emissions, this will not bring the world closer to the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming this century to well below 2°C & pursuing 1.5°C.

1/

unenvironment.org/emissions-gap-…
2. In 2019, total GHG emissions, including land-use change, reached a new high of 59.1 GtCO₂-eq.

Growth was 1.3% when excluding land-use change, but 2.6% when including land-use change due to large fires in 2019.
3. The top seven emitters (including international transport) have contributed to 65% of GHG emissions, with G20 members accounting for 78%.

The top emitters can have very different emissions per person (right)
4. CO₂ emissions could decrease by about 7% in 2020 (range: 2–12%) compared with 2019 emission levels due
to COVID-19, with a smaller drop expected in GHG emissions as non-CO₂ emissions are likely to be less affected.
5. The COVID-19 crisis offers only a short-term reduction in global emissions and will not contribute significantly to emissions reductions by 2030 unless countries pursue an economic recovery that incorporates strong decarbonization.
6. Collectively, G20 members are projected to overachieve their modest 2020 Cancun Pledges.

G20 countries are not on track to achieve their NDC commitments:
* 9 members are on track
* 5 members not on track
* 2 members have insufficient information
7. The growing number of countries committing to net-zero emissions goals is the most significant & encouraging climate policy development of 2020.

To remain feasible & credible, it is imperative that these commitments are translated into strong near-term policies and action.
8. The emissions gap has not been narrowed compared with 2019 & is, as yet, unaffected by COVID-19.

By 2030, annual emissions need to be:
* 15 GtCO₂e (12–19 GtCO₂e) lower than current unconditional NDCs imply for a 2°C goal
* 32 GtCO₂e (29–36 GtCO₂e) lower for the 1.5°C goal
9. Current NDCs remain seriously inadequate to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Collectively, current policies fall short 3 GtCO₂e of meeting the level associated with full implementation
of the unconditional NDCs & about 5 GtCO₂e under the conditional NDC scenario.
10. The opening for using fiscal rescue & recovery measures to stimulate the economy while simultaneously accelerating a low-carbon transition has largely been missed.
11. Domestic & international shipping & aviation currently account for around 5% of global CO₂ emissions.

Based on current trends, international emissoins are projected to consume 60-220% of allowable CO₂ emissions by 2050 under IPCC illustrative 1.5°C scenarios.
12. Lifestyle changes are a prerequisite for sustaining reductions in GHG emissions.

Two thirds of global emissions are linked to private household activities.

Reducing emissions through lifestyle changes requires
changing both broader systemic conditions & individual actions.
13. Equity is central to addressing lifestyles.

The emissions of the richest 1% of the global population account for more than twice the combined share of the poorest 50%.
14. And if the UNEP Emissions Gap Report was not enough, the Global Carbon Budget comes Friday 11 December!

While you wait, read the Emissions Gap Report: unenvironment.org/emissions-gap-…

/end

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More from @Peters_Glen

11 Dec
1. What happened to EU27 emissions in 2020 & what does it mean for the 55% 2030 target?

COVID19 sent CO₂ emissions down ~12%:
* Coal went down 18% in 2019, COVID cements this in
* Oil has grown last 5 years, 2020 needs to start a new decline
* Gas is stubborn, problem for 2030!
2. The EU target is for GHGs (not just CO₂), but now includes the forest sink.

The inclusion of the sink makes the relative reduction in emissions from 1990 larger (24% to 2018) & makes a 2030 target easier to achieve (in terms of reduced growth rates to achieve it).

But...
3. The inclusion of the land sink is probably necessarily to meet the 2050 net-zero GHG emission goal.

It may be hard to maintain the land sink, particularly in the face of climate change.

The alternative is using technical carbon removal (BECCS or DACCS, which have troubles).
Read 5 tweets
11 Dec
THREAD: Global Carbon Budget 2020

An unprecedented 2.4 GtCO₂ (7%) drop in emissions in 2020 due to COVID19 restrictions. But, daily emissions are already edging up towards levels last seen in late 2019.

#CarbonBudget globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/i…
2. A drop of 2.4 GtCO₂ has not been seen before, but emissions have not been this high either.

After the global financial crisis emissions increased 1.7GtCO₂ in 2010. Will this record increase be surpassed in 2021?

Relative changes of >±7% were common before 1950...
3. Despite the rapid change in emissions, atmospheric CO₂ concentrations continued up as if COVID19 never happened.

Why?
* Emissions were high, as high as in 2012
* The relative change is smaller than interannual variability
* CO₂ is cumulative, so total emissions matter
Read 15 tweets
8 Dec
"...if one tinkers long enough with inputs & assumptions, it is possible to make these models come up with virtually anything" @wim_carton

The background to this quote is rather interesting. Thread...

1/

Chapter 3 rutgersuniversitypress.org/has-it-come-to…
2. The Low Energy Demand (LED) scenario did not quantify costs "We have not explored [costs] in any detail, with the exceptions of the costs of supply-side ... However, this is a one-sided story without analogous quantifications of the demand-side ..."

nature.com/articles/s4156…
3. "Since it is nearly impossible to put a price tag on most of these measures, none of the scenarios has been evaluated in terms of costs."

nature.com/articles/s4155…
Read 9 tweets
7 Dec
The anatomy of a scenario...

A 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 on how mitigation works, why we probably need some level of carbon capture & storage (CCS) & carbon dioxide removal (CDR) - just not as much as in scenarios.

Based on my presentation ↦ www2.slideshare.net/GlenPeters_CIC…
2. We start with a baseline or reference scenario, that assumes no or limited mitigation. If we want to stay "well below 2°C" we need to get rid of the dark grey & be net-zero!

We can argue about the baseline, but for the purposes here, it doesn't matter nature.com/articles/d4158…
3. The heavy lifting is done by conventional mitigation: behavioural change, energy efficiency, fuel switching (fossils to non-fossils), changed transport, dematerialisation, etc, etc...

But, scenarios suggest this is not enough to get rid of all greenhouse gases.
Read 14 tweets
3 Dec
"Since IAMs are designed to minimize mitigation costs, this means that they by definition select for the most gradual reduction in fossil fuel use."

A thread on 'gradualism' based on @wim_carton's article
2/ "As the IPCC points out, aggregate mitigation costs in IAMs generally increase when action is delayed. ... The longer mitigation is delayed, ... the more investments and/or devaluations it will therefore take to eventually bring emissions down to net zero/net negative."
3/ "The cost of mitigation is therefore not a function of continued fossil fuel use per se, but of the steepness of the mitigation curve, that is, of how quickly fossil fuel consumption needs to fall in order to reach the specified temperature target."
Read 13 tweets
2 Dec
1/ "the availability of BECCS proved critical to the cost-efficiency, & indeed the theoretical possibility, of these deep mitigation scenarios, leading to systemic inclusion of BECCS in RCP2.6 scenarios" says @katedooley0, Christoff, @KA_Nicholas

cambridge.org/core/journals/…
2/ "The incorporation of NETs in IPCC scenarios is one clear illustration of how, as @EstherTurnhout put it, “dominant political discourses compel scientists to create assessments that work within these discourses”..." writes @wim_carton

researchgate.net/publication/34…
3/ I know people don't like these sorts of statements. They illustrate that 1.5°C, even <2°C, are considerably harder without large-scale CDR.

If we take CDR out of IAMs, then very few will be able to reach deep mitigation pathways. (there are some buts, to follow)
Read 14 tweets

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