UN Environment Program releases report entitled "bridging the emissions gap"

Posted by craigclarke 
on Nov 29, 2011
 
23 November 2011:   The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has launched a report titled “Bridging the Emissions Gap,” in advance of the Durban Climate Change Conference. The report indicates that cutting emissions by 2020 to a level that could keep global temperature rise under 2ºC is technologically and economically feasible.
 
Last year’s report - the first in this series - underlined that in order to have a likely chance of keeping within the 2°C limit this century, emissions in 2020 should not be higher than 44 Gigatonnes of CO2  equivalent.  It suggested that if all the commitments and pledges were met in full, emissions would stand at around 49 Gt – a gap of 5 Gt needing to be bridged.
 
Accelerated uptake of renewable energy, fuel switching and energy efficiency improvements can deliver a large slice of the necessary cuts.

Other measures include sectoral improvements ranging from increased penetration of public transport and more fuel efficient vehicles to ones in
areas, such as, agriculture and waste management.

The report cites aviation and shipping as a special but important case, as currently these 'international emissions' fall outside the Kyoto Protocol-the
emission reduction treaty.

Together they account for around five per cent of C02 emissions and could account for up to 2.5 Gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e)
annually, by 2020.

"Options for reducing emissions from both sectors include improving fuel efficiency and using low-carbon fuels. For the shipping sector,
another promising and simple option is to reduce ship speeds," says the report which has involved 55 scientists and experts from 28 scientific groups
 across 15 countries.
 
 
The report concludes that policymakers could narrow or close the emissions gap in 2020 by: agreeing to implement their more ambitious emissions reduction pledges
 with stricter rules for compliance; deciding to target their energy systems, increasing their use of non-fossil fuel and renewable energy sources, and making
 significant improvements in energy efficiency; and putting in place strong, long-term, sector-specific polices to achieve the full emissions potential of the different economic sectors.
 
 
 
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