Leading climate scientists warn that 2050 is too late to reduce CO2 emissions to practically zero. The year mentioned in the European Green Deal and the Dutch Climate Act should actually be brought forward ten years, to 2040 at the latest, scientists involved in the UN Climate Panel IPCC told the NOS.
In two weeks, a global climate conference will start in Glasgow, where tougher climate agreements must be made. The scientific basis for this is formed by IPCC reports. The current climate targets of the Netherlands and the EU do not limit warming to 1.5 degrees, the scientists say.
This has to do with the distinction between rich and poor countries. Rich countries, such as the Netherlands and other EU member states, will have to lead the way more clearly, according to IPCC members Heleen de Coninck and Maarten van Aalst. This was internationally agreed a long time ago, and moreover, according to them, there is no alternative.
Much more CO2 from rich countries
“Firstly, because we have a historical responsibility, we have already emitted much more CO2 than average in the past,” says Van Aalst, professor at the TU Twente and director of the international Climate Center of the Red Cross. His colleague Heleen de Coninck, professor at Eindhoven University of Technology: “The CO2 that rich countries have emitted in the past is still in the air and is still doing its warming work.”
According to Van Aalst, a second reason is that the poor countries will wait for the rich countries anyway. “If we don’t show it already, why should they. So they will always be slightly behind us. If we want to tempt them to reach zero worldwide by 2050, we must be the first to show that we it can.”
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