Page 12 - AsiaElec Week 45 2021

AsiaElec EMISSIONS AsiaElec

COP26 sectoral initiatives could

close 2030 emissions gap by 9%

ASIA AN initial assessment by Climate Action Tracker which importantly is supported by the US,
of the impact of the Glasgow sectoral announce- would account for 800mn tonnes of CO2e
ments for methane, coal, forests and transport reductions by 2030.
show they would reduce the 2030 emissions gap If more countries signed up, such as China,
between current government action and a 1.5C India and Russia, the emissions could fall by 1.4-
pathway by just 9%, or 2.2bn tonnes of CO2e. 2.4mn tonnes.
This includes only the signatories of respec- Meanwhile, the current pledges to reduce
tive initiatives as of 10 November, 2021, and coal in power generation would reduce emis-
only accounts for reductions that are not already sions by 200mn tonnes. CAT said that this was
planned to achieve the submitted NDCs. still far below the required 80% reduction of
The environmental think-tank said that that global coal use in electricity generation below
the 9% reductions created by these Glasgow sec- 2010 levels.
toral initiatives mean that the total emissions If more countries supported the end of coal,
gap in 2030 would fall by a total of 24-25%. This then the impact could grow to around 2bn
is divided into 9% for the sectoral updates and tonnes.
15-17% for the updated NDCs submitted so far The move to zero-emission vehicles would
by national governments. create 100mn tonnes of additional emissions
The think-tank urged governments to update reductions.
their NDCs if participation in any sectoral initia- CAT said that if all governments, including
tives were not covered already by their targets. If major automobile manufacturing countries such
these initiatives gather more support, they could as Germany and the US, were to sign up to the
further reduce the gap by several GtCO2e. declaration, the additional emission reductions
“Even with all new pledges and such sectoral could be as high as 750mn tonnes.
initiatives for 2030, global emissions are still Finally, COP26’s deforestation agreement,
expected to be almost twice as high in 2030 as which aims to halt and reverse forest loss and
necessary to for a 1.5°C compatible pathway. land degradation by 2030, could provide 1.1bn
Therefore, all governments need to reconsider tonnes of new emissions reductions. This could
their targets towards COP27 in 2022 to jointly be as high as 2-3bn tonnes if countries who did
enhance mitigation ambition,” said Climate not support the agreement, principally Indone-
Action Tracker (CAT). sia, signed up. ™
CAT said that the global methane pledge,

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