Kelly MACNAMARA
Tue, October 17, 2023
The IEA has warned of 'stubbornly high emissions' during the post-pandemic economic rebound (Hendrik Schmidt)
Global emissions of planet-heating carbon dioxide are expected to rise around one percent to reach a new all-time high in 2023, the climate scientist behind the preliminary research said Tuesday.
Scientists say carbon pollution will need to be cut almost in half this decade to meet the world's targets of limiting global warming and avoiding catastrophic climate impacts.
Global CO2 emissions should be falling by around five percent this year, said Glen Peters, research director at the CICERO climate research institute in Norway.
Instead they have continued to rise, according to his research, with current expectations that the year will see emissions up between 0.5 percent and 1.5 percent.
"It would be very unlikely that emissions decline in 2023," he told AFP.
The preliminary figures show just how dauntingly hard it will be to slash emissions fast enough to meet the Paris Agreement goal of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Heating beyond that threshold risks triggering dangerous tipping points in the climate system, scientists warn.
"Each year emissions keep rising makes it all the harder to reach pathways consistent with Paris," said Peters.
The final analysis will be published in December, as world leaders meet in the United Arab Emirates for crunch UN climate talks set to be dominated by international tussling over the future of fossil fuels, the main source of CO2 pollution.
Earlier this year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said that for the first time world demand for oil, gas and coal is forecast to peak this decade due to the "spectacular" growth of cleaner energy technologies and electric cars.
But the energy watchdog has also warned of the negative impact of increased fossil fuel investments and "stubbornly high emissions" during the post-pandemic economic rebound and the energy crisis driven by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Peters said clean energy should be starting to displace demand for fossil fuels.
"This does not seem to be happening in any meaningful way yet, which is disappointing," he said.
- 'Doing half the job' -
Scientists had hoped back in 2015 that emissions might be peaking, he said, then again during the pandemic there were hopes that 2019 might mark the turning point.
"Yet, here we are again, with a new peak in 2022, and yet another peak expected again in 2023," Peters said.
"My concern is that we are doing half the job, growing clean energy, and not doing the other half of the job, transitioning away from fossil fuels."
The annual "Global Carbon Budget" report for the year will be published in December and show CO2 emissions from all sources.
The calculations are based on data from monthly and quarterly IEA reports.
klm/imm/lth
New SUVs are ‘reversing climate progress’ by emitting more pollution than old cars
Stuti Mishra
Tue, October 17, 2023 at 3:22 AM MDT·3 min read
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A new SUV purchased in 2023 ends up releasing more harmful carbon dioxide (CO2) per kilometre than a conventional engine car bought in 2013, a study by a climate charity found.
The surge in popularity of Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) is reversing the progress made in reducing carbon pollution from new cars, the study by Possible found.
With the increasing popularity of SUVs in the UK, especially in urban areas, emissions from fossil-fueled cars are on the rise, leading to worsening climate crisis, the report noted.
The research also challenged the assumption that low-income motorists drove more polluting vehicles. It revealed that the wealthiest households were 81 per cent more likely to own super-heavy emitting cars compared to other income groups.
While the rich could afford electric vehicles, they were increasingly choosing high-emission SUVs. Around three-quarters of new SUVs and two-thirds of all large SUVs registered in the UK were in urban addresses, particularly in rich neighbourhoods like Kensington and Chelsea.
The surge in SUV popularity is not accidental. Industry-wide marketing drives have successfully nudged consumers towards these larger, more powerful vehicles, leading to a dominance of SUVs in the new car market, over smaller, more eco-friendly models.
Although EV sales have increased recently, SUVs remain a significant environmental concern and claim over 40 per cent of the market share in the UK.
For every Electric Vehicle (EV) sold in the UK by 2019, 37 new SUVs hit the roads, a report by the UK Energy Research Centre said.
“Thanks to profit-hungry car companies, we are now driving in the wrong direction when it comes to carbon emissions from new fossil-fuelled cars,” Leo Murray, co-director of climate charity Possible, said.
“In this crucial time, when emissions should be falling faster than ever, expensive SUVs are riding roughshod over what little progress we have made on transport emissions in the last decade.”
The rising carbon emissions from SUVs are not just a UK problem but a global one. Last year, sports utility vehicles accounted for nearly half of all cars sold, with particular growth in the US, India and Europe, according to the International Energy Agency, releasing more planet-heating pollution than most countries.
The charity is now urging for a shift in policies to address this issue, by applying taxes for vehicle emissions based on size.
The group is also advocating for carbon emissions-based parking and road user charges specifically targeting the heaviest emitters.
It is also calling for an end to the advertising of the most polluting SUVs and the implementation of policies that make SUV owners financially responsible for the environmental impact of their vehicles.
This approach would make high-emission vehicles, especially SUVs, more expensive to operate and would provide an incentive for consumers to choose greener alternatives.
“Such large and powerful cars bring a host of other problems to our crowded city streets – too big to fit into standard parking spaces and far more likely to kill pedestrians, especially children, in collisions, they also produce more toxic particulates from tyre wear and do far more damage to the road surface than conventional cars,” Mr Murray said.
“But none of these costs to society are covered by the purchase price or running costs of large SUVs, meaning authorities need to bring in new policies to remedy this.”
“Making SUV mega polluters pay more is an effective and equitable method to getting people in cities out of these sociopathic urban tractors and into greener ways of getting around.”
The revenue generated from these charges could be used to support public transportation services, benefiting lower-income households who rely on these services, the report suggests.
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