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According to a new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of researchers brought together by the United Nations, countries today are not doing nearly enough to prevent global warming from rising to dangerous levels in the lifetimes of most people on Earth. According to the report, limiting the destruction will not be easy, but it is not impossible if countries act now.

panel provides a comprehensive overview of climate science every six to eight years. He divides his findings into three reports. Firstcame out last August about what triggers global warming. SecondOn the effects of climate change on our world and our ability to adapt to them, it was published in February. This is number 3 on how we can reduce emissions and limit further warming.

If we don’t act quickly, we’ll be in trouble.

The report makes clear that current commitments by nations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will likely not prevent global warming from exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit in the next few decades. And this assuming countries follow. If they don’t, even more warming is in store.

This goal – to prevent the average global temperature from rising by 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels – is a goal many world governments have. agreed to follow. Sounds modest. However this number represents a series of sweeping changes It happens when greenhouse gases trap more heat on the planet’s surface, including more deadly storms, more intense heat waves, rising seas and extra stress on crops. The world is already warming 1.1 degrees Celsius On average since the 19th century.

Emissions depend on economic growth and income.

So far, the world is not becoming more energy efficient fast enough to offset continued growth in global economic activity, according to the report.

In the 2010s, carbon dioxide emissions from factories, cities, buildings, farms and vehicles outweighed the benefits of switching power plants from coal to natural gas and using more renewable sources such as wind and solar.

In general, it is the richest people and the wealthiest nations that warm the planet. Worldwide, the wealthiest 10 percent of households are responsible for one-third to nearly half of all greenhouse gas emissions, according to the report. The poorest 50 percent of households contribute about 15 percent of emissions.

Prices for solar and wind power and electric vehicle batteries have dropped significantly since 2010, according to the report. As a result, in some cases, maintaining highly polluting energy systems may be “more expensive” than switching to clean sources, according to the report.

In 2020, solar and wind provided close to 10 percent of the world’s electricity. Average emissions worldwide grew much more slowly in the 2010s than in the 2000s, in part due to greater use of green energy.

It wasn’t clear to scientists that this would happen so quickly. in the 2011 report On renewable energies, the same panel noted that technological advances would likely make green energy cheaper, but said it was difficult to estimate by how much.

Changing the climate path won’t be easy or cheap, though.

According to the report, if it wants to limit global warming to 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius, the world will need to invest three to six times more than it currently spends in mitigating climate change. Money is particularly scarce in poorer countries that need trillions of dollars in investments each year this decade.

The report states that some economic disruption is inevitable as countries phase out fossil fuels. Resources will be left to the ground without burning; mines and power plants will become financially unbearable. The economic impact could be trillions of dollars, according to the report.

Even so, keeping the planned and existing fossil fuel infrastructure operational will pump enough carbon dioxide into the atmosphere to make it impossible to keep warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, the report says.

There are other steps that can help and won’t break the bank.

The report examines a number of other changes that can reduce emissions in societies, including more energy efficient buildings, more recycling and more white-collar jobs becoming remote and virtual.

The report emphasizes that these changes do not have to be jobs that dampen the economy. Some, such as better public transport and more walkable urban areas, have benefits for air pollution and general well-being, said Joyashree Roy, an economist at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok who contributed to the report. “People are demanding healthier cities and greener cities,” he said.

In total, steps that would cost less than $100 per tonne of carbon dioxide saved could reduce global emissions to about half of 2019 levels by 2030, according to the report. Other steps continue to be more expensive, such as capturing more carbon dioxide from the gases spilled from the chimneys at power plants, according to the report.

The world also needs to eliminate carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. planting more trees According to the report, this is almost the only way this is currently done on a large scale. Other methods are still in early development, such as using chemicals to remove atmospheric carbon or adding nutrients to the oceans to stimulate photosynthesis in small marine plants.

“We can’t ignore how helpful technology can be,” said Joni Jupesta, author of the report, of the Research Institute for Innovative Technology for the World in Kyoto, Japan. “Not every country has a lot of natural resources.”