To avoid catastrophic consequences for humanity due to climate change, in 2015 almost all the countries of the world signed the Paris Agreement with which they committed themselves to containing in the long term the increase in the global average temperature to 1.5°C (maximum 2°C) compared to pre-industrial levels.
These commitments have so far not been translated into action. The global average temperature has, in fact, already risen by 1.2°C compared to the pre-industrial era and, if the growth trend of the last decade (0.25°C) continues, in 2100 we will have average temperatures exceeding 3°C above the preindustrial level, which is more than double the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
The majority of the world leaders have today replaced this goal (1.5°C) with that of achieving net CO2 neutrality by 2050 which, if a few years ago seemed consistent with the goal of not exceeding 1.5°C more than pre-industrial average temperatures, is no longer so today.
In the event it was true that in order to contain an increase in global temperatures within 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels globally it would be necessary to become net CO2 neutral no later than 2050 (and not 2030 as stated by the Scientists Warning Europe), given that China (responsible for 30% of the global emissions) has committed to reach net CO2 neutrality only by 2060 and that the oil and gas producing countries (totalling 13% of the global emissions), India, Mexico, Brazil, Turkey, South Africa, Argentina, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia (together responsible for 17% of the emissions) have not made any commitments – and therefore could become net CO2 neutral as late as by 2070 -, countries that currently emit 60% of emissions can be expected to become net CO2 neutral on average only by 2065.
Therefore, the other countries that currently emit 40% of emissions should become net CO2 neutral by 2030. These countries include the USA, Europe, Japan, South Korea and Canada that collectively emit about 33% of the total greenhouse gases.
Nobody is fully aware of the true extent of the emissions of methane, which has a greenhouse effect 100 times stronger than CO2. These emissions are and will be caused by the melting of permafrost due to increase in temperatures which has already occurred.
Despite the fact that the IPCC and all the signatories to the Paris Agreement are aware of the need to remove from the atmosphere the gigantic quantities of CO2, present and future whilst it will continue to increase in the coming years, to avoid exceeding 1.5 ° C, no one is aware of the cost of this removal and how to implement it, especially if the goal was to return to the level of 350 ppm of CO2 eq by 2100 which would involve the removal of about 1500 Gigatons (or about 190 ppm) of CO2 (as recommended by Dave King and by Scientists Warning Europe).
If you wish to know more about the reasons that led us to promote the SOS Planet initiative, we invite you to read our article published in HuffPost last December (in Italian only).