The Now or Never report: newest IPCC climate report shows time is running out
This report makes it clear: we have to deal with excess carbon now, capture it, and get it out of the atmosphere if we want to keep living on this planet.
The Now or Never Report
On April 4th, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released the final part of a three-part report that helps to understand the damage, future risks, potential outcomes, and possible solutions linked to climate change.
Carbon removal is now unavoidable according to the report, if we want to try to stick to 1.5°-2°C temperature changes¹. This edition of the report is sounding all the alarm bells: avoiding a 1.5°C global temperature increase is pretty much out of the question. 2°C is still possible. If we keep going at the rate we’re going, we’ll reach 3°C global warming by the end of the century.
The challenge we are facing is not only to save biodiversity and natural ecosystems. It is a challenge to keep the planet livable for humans. If we don’t fix this, we won’t have a home for future generations.
Carbon Removal potential available right now: the AFOLU
Representing “agriculture, forestry, and other land use,” the AFOLU sector naturally has the ‘economic’ potential to remove 8–16 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide annually until 2050 according to the report. But it has the ‘technical’ potential — if financial constraints are not taken into account — of twice that amount annually². Remember globally we have 59 gigatons of excess carbon annually. So while AFOLU can’t solve the climate crisis, this means if the money is there, the potential is huge.
The report says that between now and 2050, the preservation and restoration of natural ecosystems has the highest potential for removing CO2 from the atmosphere in the AFOLU sector.
Why the IPCC is holding back recommending carbon offsets
Despite this potential, the report aims at companies using carbon offsets to greenwash their activities rather than reducing their carbon emissions. Greenwashing looks like planting forests with no respect to whether the tree species is naturally found in the area. It looks like missing reports to see if the trees merge into the local biodiversity. It also looks like projects that encroach on food security for local people. These situations all point to big problems in the voluntary carbon market.
Can transparency change that?
We have a long road ahead of us. We need:
- Drastic and immediate reductions in emissions
- An energy transition to clean energy
- Capturing carbon naturally and by human processes
However, we believe that the carbon absorption sector, especially those using natural carbon sinks can achieve its potential. How? A good start would be to adopt stringent transparency and screening processes. No greenwashing is accepted!
How can DeFi contribute?
Speaking to one of the world’s leading science magazines Nature, Nathaniel Keohane, president of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, said :
“The immediate goal is to accelerate those efforts and ramp up climate finance to ensure that it’s a truly global effort.”³
DeFi offers rapid scaling and ultimate transparency. If leveraged to fund thoroughly screened natural carbon capture projects, there is the potential to decrease the gap between ‘economic,’ and ‘technical,’ potential in the AFOLU sector.
At CarbonABLE we know we’re not going to solve climate change. But we believe that we’re going to make fast, impactful changes in the right direction. It’s now or never — will you act?
Sources:
(1)https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/carbon-removal-unavoidable-as-climate-dangers-grow-new-ipcc-report-says/(2)https://www.carbonbrief.org/in-depth-qa-the-ipccs-sixth-assessment-on-how-to-tackle-climate-change(3)https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00951-5
