New report suggests fighting manmade global warming could cost US$ 2 trillion per year

Imperial College London has launched a report that examines the measures required to reduce CO₂ emissions and limit the extent of manmade climate change.

Given that studies suggest that global CO₂ emissions are set to pass 50 Giga tonnes per annum (Gtpa) by 2050 if no action is taken to reduce them in the intervening years. The report from ICL looks at the technologies and interventions that would be necessary to limit emissions from human activity to 15 Gtpa by 2050, a figure that is thought to help keep global warming to around the 2 °C rise that scientists believe will be acceptable. The report concludes that reaching this target will cost US$ 2 trillion pa by 2050.

ICL’s Professor Nilay Shah of the Department of Chemical Engineering, who wrote the report, said, “A fundamental step will be making the power sector emit very low levels of carbon by deploying renewables, nuclear and carbon capture and storage technologies.” He added that industrial manufacturing processes, among other sectors, would need to be powered by low-carbon electricity and improve energy efficiency in order to meet this target. Professor Shah acknowledged that the transition would be challenging, but is achievable if all countries take action now. Among the report’s key findings was that fossil fuel demand must be reduced by almost 40% in 2050 compared to current consumption.

A full account of the report findings can be found here.

Adapted from Imperial College London report by Katherine Gu