A UN report on climate change released today in Berlin says the world must rapidly move away from carbon-intensive fuels.
There must be a “massive shift” to renewable energy, says the 33-page study.
It has been finalized after a week of negotiations between scientists and government officials.
Natural gas is seen as a key bridge to move energy production away from oil and coal.
But there have been battles between participants over who will pay for this energy transition.
The report is the work of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was set up to provide a clear scientific view on climate change and its impacts.
The Summary for Policymakers on mitigation paints a picture of a world with carbon emissions rising rapidly.
“The high speed mitigation train needs to leave the station very soon, and all of global society will have to get on board,” the IPCC’s chair Rajendra Pachauri told journalists in Berlin at the launch of the report.
Dr. Youba Sokono, a co-chair of the IPCC’s working group 3, which drew up the report, said science has spoken.
He added that policy makers were “the navigators, they have to make decisions, scientists are the map makers”.
About half of all the carbon that humans have pumped into the atmosphere since 1750 has been emitted in the last 40 years.
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was set up to provide a clear scientific view on climate change and its impacts (photo Reuters)
Rates have been rising fast since 2000, despite the global economic crash.
The report points to an increased use of coal in the decade from the turn of the millennium, “reversing the longstanding trend of decarbonization of the world’s energy supply”.
Driven by a global increase in population and economic activity, global surface temperature increases will be between 3.7C and 4.8C in 2100 if no new action is taken.
This is way above the 2 degree level, regarded as the point beyond which dangerous impacts of climate change will be felt.
However, the scientists involved in the report say this situation can be turned around.
To be sure of staying below 2 degrees, the amount of carbon in the air needs to be around 450 parts per million (ppm) by 2100. To get there, emissions in 2050 need to be 40-70% lower than they were in 2010.
The IPCC says that renewables are a critical part of that pathway.
Since the last report in 2007, the scientists say that renewable energy has come on in leaps and bounds.
In 2012, renewables accounted for just over half of the new electricity generation added around the world.
The scientists stress that renewables are becoming economically competitive with fossil fuels and also offer a range of other benefits, including clean air and energy security.
“It certainly is the end for carbon intensive fuels that’s for sure,” said Jennifer Morgan from the World Resources Institute, who was a review editor on one of the chapters of the IPCC report.
“There needs to be a massive shift away from fossil fuels and investment needs to shift to going 100% clean as fast as possible.”
One of the surprising endorsements in the report is natural gas.
“Emissions from energy supply can be reduced significantly by replacing current world average coal-fired power plants with modern, highly efficient natural gas combined-cycle power plants,” says the summary.
The report describes natural gas as a “bridge” technology with deployment increasing before peaking and falling below current levels by 2050.
However, many of the scenarios examined by the panel would still involve an “overshoot” of the target range.
To cope with this the world may need to remove carbon from the atmosphere. Combining carbon capture and storage with bioenergy is seen as one potential solution, but the report is lukewarm on these ideas, saying the “methods are uncertain” and are “associated with risks”.
Timing is everything, say the scientists.
“Delaying mitigation efforts beyond those in place today through 2030 is estimated to substantially increase the difficulty of the transition to low longer-term emissions,” says the summary.
The report points out that there needs to be huge shifts in investment if the worst impacts of rising temperatures are to be avoided. Investment in renewables and other low carbon sources needs to at least treble by the middle of the century, while money flowing into fossil fuels has to diminish.
But differences have emerged over who should make the cuts in emissions and who should pay for the switch to low carbon energy sources. Developed and developing countries have clashed here in Berlin, echoing divisions found in the UN negotiations.
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The man who was shot by police, sparking the wave of rioting that has hit London, died of a single gunshot wounding his chest. An inquest has heard.
Mark Duggan was deadly shot by armed officers in Ferry Lane, Tottenham, north London, on Thursday, August, 4, after they stopped the minicab he was in to carry out an arrest as part of a pre-planned operation.
Mark Duggan, the man who was shot by police, sparking the wave of rioting that has hit London, died of a single gunshot wounding his chest
[googlead tip=”lista_mica” aliniat=”stanga”]An inquest, which began on Tuesday morning at North London coroner’s court, in High Barnet, heard that Mark Duggan died of a single gunshot wounding his chest. He was pronounced dead at the scene onThursday at 6:41p.m.
Last Thursday evening, officers from the Metropolitan Police (Met) Operation Trident and Special Crime Directorate 11, accompanied by officers from CO19, the Met’s specialist firearms command, stopped the silver Toyota Estima minicab in Ferry Lane, close to Tottenham Hale tube station, to arrest Mark Duggan.
According to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), Mark Duggan, whose shooting by police sparked London’s riots, did not fire a shot at police officers before they killed him.
Releasing the initial findings of ballistics tests, the police watchdog said a CO19 firearms officer fired two bullets, and that a bullet that lodged in a police radio was “consistent with being fired from a police gun”.
The IPCC said Duggan was carrying a loaded gun, but it had no evidence that the weapon had been fired. It said tests were continuing.
[googlead tip=”patrat_mediu” aliniat=”stanga”]The officer who fired the fatal shots has been removed from firearms duties, which is standard procedure, pending the IPCC investigation. One theory, not confirmed by the IPCC, is that the bullet became lodged in the radio from a ricochet or after passing through Duggan.
The IPCC’s statement said the bullet lodged in the police radio was a “jacketed round“. This is a police-issue bullet and is “consistent with having been fired from a [police] Heckler and Koch MP5“, it said.
The statement said:
“Our investigators will be examining recordings of radio transmissions from both police and London ambulance service, including 999 calls, with a view to tracing further witnesses. We will also be examining any intelligence and surveillance material leading up to the planning of the operation.”
The non-police firearm found at the scene was a converted BBM Bruni self-loading pistol. The gun was found to have a “bulleted cartridge” in the magazine, which is being subjected to further forensic tests.
[googlead tip=”patrat_mediu” aliniat=”stanga”]The police officer whose radio was hit was taken to Homerton hospital where he was examined and discharged later that night.
The minicab driver was not injured but was badly shaken by what he saw, the IPCC said. His account, as well as those of the officers, is being examined along with the forensic evidence.
The police watchdog said it was examining CCTV footage of the area, including from buses passing by at the time.
Colin Sparrow, the deputy senior investigator for the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), told the brief hearing that the organization’s “complex investigation” could take 4 to 6 months.
Andrew Walker, the coroner for the northern district of Greater London, adjourned the hearing until December, 12, when a pre-inquest review will be held.
Semone Wilson, Mark Duggan's fiancee, at North London coroner's court, in High Barnet, Tuesday morning
Walker told members of Duggan’s family, including his fiancee, Semone Wilson:
“Can I just offer my deepest sympathies to the family of Mark Duggan.”
“As members of the family will know, in due course there will be an inquest touching the death of Mark Duggan and this is the first stage in that process.”
“Of course, as well as offering our deepest sympathies to members of the family, I would like to reassure members of the family that we will be working closely with the IPCC throughout the process.”
According to Rachel Cerfontyne, the IPCC commissioner:
“Any concerns expressed by the wider public about a perceived lack of information from the IPCC should be considered in the context that I am only willing to share information once I have had it independently verified and once the people who are directly involved in this case – including Mr Duggan’s family and community leaders – have been fully informed.”
After the hearing, the family said they were “distressed” by the rioting in the wake of his death. In a statement on their behalf, Helen Shaw, from the organization Inquest, said:
“The family wants everyone to know that the disorder going on has nothing to do with finding out what has happened to Mark. They also want people to know they are deeply distressed by the disorder affecting communities across the country.”
