Highly dependent countries have difficulty reducing coal enough

2023/02/06 Etxebeste Aduriz, Egoitz - Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Ingurumena
• Klima

To meet the target of limiting global warming to 1.5°c, it is essential to stop using coal as an energy source as soon as possible. According to the IPCC, coal use should be reduced by 73% by 2030, well above oil (10%) and gas (7%). In countries that are highly dependent on coal – China, India and South Africa – this means, however, that they should be reduced twice as fast as the fastest cut in a country’s energy sources, according to a recent study published in Nature Climate Change. And they question whether this is possible given the socio-political nature of these countries.

Thus, they conclude that if this is taken into account, the other countries should reduce their CO2 emissions by 50% faster than what is established. To this end, Europe and the United States in particular should reduce oil and gas consumption more rapidly.