COP27: Half of World’s Emissions Are Now Covered by Climate Legislation

Jim Skea, a scientist and member of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), revealed that the world has seen major developments in terms of renewable energy, with costs falling and deployment going up in the past years.

The IPCC's member said: “Half the world’s emissions are now covered by climate legislation. A fifth of the world’s emissions are covered by carbon prices. So, people haven’t quite used all the tools yet, but they’ve got [them] on the workbench. And if people have enough willpower to do it, big things can happen.”

Mr. Skea underscored at COP27 that the IPCC reports make clear that in the short-term there should be “huge” reductions in coal use, medium in terms of oil, and modest reductions in terms of gas to keep the 1.5 scenarios reachable.

“We need to decrease gas to 45 percent by 2050. That’s a 2 percent reduction per year. And frankly, existing gas fields will deplete faster than that,” the scientist explained, clarifying that the world needs to “exit” all fossil fuels, but perhaps, at different speeds.

Meanwhile, Francesco La Camera, IRENA Director General, explained that the future of energy systems will be based largely on renewables and complemented by green hydrogen and the sustainable use of biomass.