Carbon removal ‘unavoidable’ as climate change alarm bells ring
The “unavoidable” need to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to limit global warming, starkly laid out in the latest UN report on climate change, has given a boost to the technologies involved despite their shortcomings. Carbon removal includes through biological methods, such as planting trees and soil preservation, as well as chemically or mechanically, by using machines to extract it from the air and store it underground. Some technological solutions would be needed because there was “only so much land, and you can’t expect the land to mop up all the greenhouse gas emissions,” said Joanna House, from the University of Bristol, and one of the authors of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. Carbon capture technology would be needed to “reduce emissions we really can’t get rid of”, and required investment “now, because they are behind the curve of what we need”, she said. Biological methods, such as planting trees or changing agricultural practices, remain the cheapest way to remove carbon from the atmosphere. But there has also been increasing investment in more expensive mechanical methods such as “direct air capture” to combat global warming.
India targets net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, says Modi
India’s economy will become carbon neutral by the year 2070, the country’s prime minster has announced at the COP26 climate crisis summit in Glasgow. The target date is two decades beyond what scientists say is needed to avert catastrophic climate impacts. India is the last of the world’s major carbon polluters to announce a net-zero target, with China saying it would reach that goal in 2060, and the United States and the European Union aiming for 2050.
COP26: What climate summit means for one woman in Bangladesh
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Why China's climate policy matters to us all
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Deliver on promises, developing world tells rich at climate talks
A crucial U.N. conference heard calls on its first day for the world's major economies to keep their promises of financial help to address the climate crisis, while big polluters India and Brazil made new commitments to cut emissions. World leaders, environmental experts and activists all pleaded for decisive action to halt the global warming which threatens the future of the planet at the start of the two-week COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Monday. The task facing negotiators was made even more daunting by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments at the weekend.