The climate conference saga.......
The numerous conferences and summits on environment & climate - be it the Rio 1992, Kyoto 1997, Paris 2015, Glasgow 2021 and now Sharm El-Sheikh 2022 and many more ......
Problem Statement: Global warming effects due to anthropogenic emissions resulting in melting of ice caps and hole in ozone layer
Cause: Excess usage of fossil fuels (crude oil, coal, natural gas)
Effect: Pollution and rise in temperature causing natural calamities like floods, drought, erratic rainfall, wildfires etc. leading to deaths and health issues to mankind
Solution: Cease fossil fuel emissions to atmosphere (preferably stop use of fossil fuels)
Aim: Decarbonization (Demethanization) in all sectors of life by all countries in a similar timeframe
Desired Action: Put an end to the use of fossil fuels (crude oil, coal, natural gas) and shift to renewable energy in all sectors by all countries
Requirements: Lots of money (trillions of dollars), technological breakthroughs, political will, collaboration between all stakeholders (countries, regulators, industries and consumers)
Challenges
1.Inequality in population, area and economy. As a result, the affordability, availability?and scalability of renewable sources and low carbon technologies becomes a hinderance
2.Legacy issues: Some countries have their energy mix skewed towards fossil fuels; thus a change becomes too complicated to undertake in comparison to other nations
3.Diverse opinions: Extremely challenging to get a consensus on any issue among humans, this issue itself is too complex. There are 195 odd countries with different industries and businesses in the fray. Some key differences are: Selective Fossil fuel usage (natural gas & blue hydrogen) vs complete ban on fossil fuels, Carbon taxes and related market mechanisms, subsidies on fossil fuels, Money and technology transfer, taxonomy about green and nuclear, absolute phasing out of coal, opposition to ESG in some quarters etc.
4.Change Management: Any change always faces resistance, here it is about a humongous change affecting all aspects of life including the issue of survival
5.Historic context: The past exploitation of fossil fuels by a set of countries leading to their affluence is a blatant mockery to others who are now dependent on fossil fuels for their survival and growth but face the dilemma of decarbonization
6.?Hypocrisy: Per capita emission and cumulative emissions till date to be seen through a lens of actuality not through evasion and pontification of total current emissions only
7.Irrationality: Coal is being branded as the villain due to its carbon content, but natural gas is promoted as a great remedy by ignoring the harmful effects of methane. Blaming coal and promoting natural gas is akin to condemning cyanide but praising sarin, both will ultimately kill
8.Greed: Fossil fuel business is worth trillions. Extremely difficult for?the investors, the industry and the countries to let it go and part from the riches
9.Lobbying: The fossil fuel industry lobbies many governments to go slow on regulations on decarbonization whereas Greenpeace wants all fossil fuels to stop completely. Low carbon oil and LNG, blue hydrogen are diligently promoted by fossil fuel industry as a survival tool and a key to get the license to operate in the society
10.Interdependent Systems: Globalization?has led to interconnectedness of Supply chains and trade. Carbon tax and emission trading has been implemented in some of the countries with accrued benefits. But in the context of the current globalized economy with interconnected supply chains, unless all the countries are not on the same page regarding the cost of carbon and its implementation, the desired effects will not be obtained
11.Pragmatism: To transfer 8 billion people who are completely dependent on the abundant fossil fuels to a system with no fossil fuels in real life is an out of the world phenomenon. On paper multiple roadmaps can be drawn and it can be contemplated to achieving the targets by application of?excel sheets and analytical?models. But getting it done in real world is altogether different
The way forward
????i.???????Keep the dialogue open between all countries
????ii.???????Collaboration between all stakeholders
???iii.???????More funds and technology transfer
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???iv.???????Mandatory and standardized disclosures
????v.???????Updating the Regulatory and policy frameworks towards decarbonization
???vi.???????For the implementation of ESG - The E, S and G?to be separated and calibrated individually
??vii.???????Revision of NDCs on yearly basis
?viii.???????Work towards a global and integrated carbon markets and emissions trading
???ix.???????Implementation of circular economy and energy efficiency principles?
????x.???????Pollution control, water and forest conservation to be prioritized by all
2050 is not a destination per se but a journey………. a complex one
We all have to continue beyond 2050 …………………………………
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