Soaring fossil fuel production set to greatly exceed Paris accord's goal

By Dilip -
The world’s top 10 fossil fuel-producing countries are on track to extract far more oil, gas and coal by 2030 than scientists say the planet can handle without experiencing catastrophic warming, according to a report published Wednesday.

The first-of-its-kind analysis - conducted by scientists at six organizations, including the nonprofit Stockholm Environment Institute and the United Nations Environment Programme―measured for the so-called production gap between the goals set in the 2015 Paris climate accord and projections for fossil fuel production in China, the United States, Russia, India, Australia, Indonesia, Canada, Germany, Norway and the United Kingdom. [...]

“The discrepancy between national policies―the climate change policies and fossil fuel production policies―highlights there is much more that needs to be done both at country level and international climate negotiations to put a sharpened and increased focus on fossil fuels,” Niklas Hagelberg, the UN Environment Programme’s climate change coordinator, said on a call with reporters Tuesday morning. [...]


Assuming the fuels extracted will be burned, the combined oil, gas and coal production is on pace to be 50% higher than would be consistent with a goal to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial averages ― the target to which nearly every country on Earth agreed in the Paris Agreement. Coal mining alone is 150% greater than the production goal that would keep warming in that zone, despite the conventional narrative that coal production is declining. https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/11/21/1901044/-Open-thread-for-night-owls-Soaring-fossil-fuel-production-set-to-greatly-exceed-Paris-accord-s-goal

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