Borrowed time

The world is set to produce over twice the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C

- RAJIT SENGUPTA

ONE OF the unfortunate aspects of the climate crisis is the fact that early intervention could have prevented it. While governments world over have been discussing how to handle the crisis for more than three decades now, they continue to fixate on fossil fuel-led development.

The United Nations’ “Production Gap Report 2021”, released on October 20, factors in the economic impact of the covid-19 pandemic, and states that countries are on the path to producing more than double the amount of fossil fuels (around 110 per cent) in 2030 than would be consistent with the median 1.5°C-warming pathway, and 45 per cent more fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with the median 2°C-warming pathway (see ‘Out of control’ on p24).

What is worse, the gap will grow post-2030 because of the renewed investments in fossil fuels made by several countries after the pandemic. By 2040, countries’ plans and projections show 190 per cent more fossil fuels than would be consistent with the median 1.5°C pathway, and 89 per cent more than the median 2°C pathway, says the report, which looks at by how much the governments intend to exceed the supply of fossil fuels that can be safely burnt in the coming decades.