UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Delaying action on global warming will only
increase the costs and reduce the options for dealing with the worst effects
of climate change, according to a draft report by U.N. experts.
The final draft of the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, obtained Thursday by The Associated Press, says that global warming
will continue to increase unless countries shift quickly to clean energy
and cut emissions.
It said that despite national policies and international efforts aimed at
mitigating climate change, emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse
gases that are warming the planet grew 2.2 percent per year on average between
2000 and 2010, compared to 1.3 percent per year from 1970 to 2000.
The two main drivers for the increasing emissions are economic growth, which
has risen sharply, and population growth, which has remained roughly steady,
the report said.
The largest contributor to global emissions results from the burning of
oil and coal — and the draft report said its contribution is expected
to rise.
Unless "explicit efforts" are made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
the experts warned that increased conservation and efficiency will not be
sufficient to counter their rise.
With increasing demand for energy and the growing use of coal to generate
electricity, the experts said emissions from the sector are projected to
double or triple by 2050 from the level in 2010 unless improvements in clean
energy are "significantly accelerated."
International climate negotiators agreed at the 2009 U.N. climate change
conference in Copenhagen that global warming this century must increase by
less than 2 degrees (1.1 degree Celsius) from now to avoid the worst impacts
of climate change.
Scientists say that target requires atmospheric concentration of carbon
dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, to stay below 530 parts per million. The
level surpassed 400 parts per million briefly in the spring, but annually
it is still barely below 400.
The report said the majority of scenarios to stay below 530 parts per million
throughout the 21st century would require a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
between 40 percent and 70 percent of 2010 levels by 2050.
The experts said this will require new patterns of investment and a transformation
into a low-carbon economy.
The global total annual investment in the energy system is presently about
$1.2 trillion, it said.
The experts estimated that in order to stabilize the atmospheric concentration
of CO2 between 430 and 530 parts per million investments in fossil fuels
would have to decline by $30 billion a year between 2010 and 2029, while
investment in non-carbon producing energy sources would have to rise by $147
billion a year.
The report said many renewable energy technologies are increasingly efficient
and cost effective, but many still need support if their market share is
to increase.