As world leaders come together to resolve the climate crisis during COP-27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, new data shows that global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels are increasing by 1%. Global carbon projects annual report
– We can no longer expect anything of importance from the climate summits. It’s too easy to make big, airy promises. Now we need to move from conversation to action, Glen Peters, research leader at the CIERO Center for Climate Research and part of the leadership team of the Global Carbon Project, tells Dagbladet.
Less optimistic
Peters has been part of an international team since 2009 analyzing developments in global greenhouse gas CO emissions2.
– In the 2000s, emissions skyrocketed, about three percent per year. The financial crisis of 2008-2009 slightly reduced emissions and in the 2010s growth in emissions was also lower – and the Paris Agreement gave us some optimism, he says and continues:
– At that time, we thought that CO2 emissions in the world were perhaps at their highest. Then came the corona pandemic. The following year, emissions went up again … That’s why I was more optimistic before the crown than it is today.
KFREVER ACTION: Australian Glen Peters is no longer impressed by the fanciful words about zero emissions and a greener everyday life. Photo: Hege Fantoft Andreassen
sea View
Because even as world leaders keep promising they will cut fossil fuels and switch to cleaner energy and a zero-emission daily life, emissions are on the rise.
– The economic crisis packages aimed to move the world in a cleaner and greener direction. Both during the financial crisis of 2008-2009, during the covid pandemic and now with the war in Ukraine. But the CO2 emissions data show no signs of that, Peters says.
Green wash
The climate summit in Egypt began with UN Secretary General António Guterres saying that we are heading “at full speed towards climate hell”. He used the English expression “highway to climate hell”.
– The problem now is that everyone has learned the language. Politicians as well as companies and industries are talking about sustainability, net zero and emission cuts. If you go to the Equinor website, you’ll see big zero-emission projects, while at the same time they’re doing something completely different, Peters says and continues:
– At some point the speech must end and emissions must actually be cut. So I’m not just talking about Norway. Like in Australia, where I’m from: on the same day, they can make plans for zero emissions, at the same time they start a new venture in gas or a coal-fired power plant. These will continue to work in 2050, so when they say they will be zero in the same year, that doesn’t add up.
Climate hell warning: – Very serious
Peters points out that politicians, companies and industries have too much faith that future technology, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS), will pull them out of the climate crisis.
– But relying on emissions cuts with CCS and other new technologies in the future will not give us short-term cuts. We cannot reduce emissions with the current approach, she says.
Best in class in the EU
Because if the world’s total CO2 emissions continue as they are this year for another nine years, the 1.5 degree target won’t be possible. Global temperature will continue to rise until total CO2 emissions are reduced to zero.
– We don’t see many signs of necessary reductions in emissions. But – if I have to find any good news, it is that the EU has managed to reduce its emissions, says Peters.
The decrease is mainly due to a ten percent reduction in gas emissions. Emissions from coal consumption are projected to increase by 6.7% and oil emissions by 0.9%.
– It’s pretty impressive. Whether it’s luck or politics, it’s too early to tell, but the EU is in the driver’s seat with a policy that can reduce emissions, Peters says.
Tennis Drama: Lights Up
He describes the work of mapping global CO2 emissions as an accounting work.
– Mapping becomes more important from year to year because we can independently measure emissions. Satellites in space, for example, will provide us with tools that will allow us to observe whether, for example, China is underestimating its emissions. Understanding what actually happens to our emissions is becoming more and more important, she says.
Norway’s emissions
In Norway, there are three sectors that contribute most to Norway’s emissions: oil and gas production, industry and transport.
– Over the past two years, Norway’s CO emissions2 slightly decreased. Partly because of the pandemic and because the Melkøya plant, one of Norway’s largest sources of emissions, was shut down after the fire at the end of 2020. Now Melkøya is back in production and contributing to emissions, says Robbie Andrew in CICER in Dagbladet.
MOST POLLUTING: Equinor’s Melkøya plant outside Hammerfest tops Norway’s emissions statistics. Photo: Ntb
sea View
Emissions of gasoline and diesel are declining, mainly as fossil fuel-powered cars are being replaced by electric cars. Aircraft emissions, on the other hand, are increasing enormously.
– The figures show a 101% increase, so air travel increases dramatically, Andrew says.
– The EU is doing well. And Norway? We like to be among the best in class, don’t we?
– If a country manages to cut, it should be Norway, which makes a lot of money selling oil and gas, which the world needs right now. It is not so easy to say that we will now cut the oil and gas industry, but a decline must be planned. This is something we’ve been talking about for years, but it’s amazing how bad that conversation is. We need to move towards a more carbon neutral society, says Andrew.
Throwing mashed potatoes at Monet’s painting
India and development
– Are you worried that the world is still increasing its CO2 emissions?
– I’m as expected. In Europe, we see that the trend is a decline, but there may be a few years with slightly higher emissions. It is a difficult step and it will not be easy. But there is also the goal of phasing out coal. So the trend is a decline in all countries except India says and continues:
– India is now the world’s third largest source of CO2 emissions and lags far behind China in development. All countries must be able to develop, and if rich countries can help, then this development can go in a greener direction, Andrew says and adds:
– India’s CO2 emissions have increased by more than three per cent on average over the past decade and have now exceeded total EU emissions. But India is a big country, and per capita emissions are still only a third of the EU’s, Andrew says.
