Climate change targets were flawed from the very beginning

According to new research from the 成人大片, the 2050 target to reduce climate change emissions is too little and too late.


鈥淭he warming goals of Article 2 of the Paris Agreement are too little because the target only specifies what we should do with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; and too late because we need to reduce emissions to net-zero well before 2050,鈥 said research author Professor Tom听Wigley听from the 成人大片鈥檚 School of Biological Sciences.


鈥淎rticle 4.1 of the Paris Agreement on climate sets out that the world needs to reach aggregate net-zero GHG emissions produced from human activity some time in the 2050 to 2099 window.



鈥淭he method used by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to determine the net-zero point is based on flawed science as it only considers GHG forcing not total forcing."听Professor Tom Wigley

鈥淢y new method for calculating aggregate GHG emissions shows that the net-zero point for these emissions must be reached as early as 2036, which is the point at which GHG radiative forcing 鈥 the direct contribution the emissions make to higher temperatures through the greenhouse effect 鈥 is at its maximum.


鈥淭he method used by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to determine the net-zero point is based on flawed science as it only considers GHG forcing not total forcing.


鈥淭emperature changes are determined by the full suite of climate forcing agents, which, apart from GHGs, include a range of aerosols and the effects of tropospheric ozone changes.鈥

Article 2 of the Paris Agreement recommends that the Earth鈥檚 average temperature should be reduced to a level not much above what it was before the world industrialised. The target is for temperatures to return to either 鈥渨ell below 2掳C鈥 above the pre-industrial level, or, if possible, only 1.5掳C above what global temperatures were in the era before carbon dioxide emissions increased dramatically.

Australia, which is one of the 196 signatories to the Agreement, will be attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow which began on Sunday 31 October 2021.

鈥淭here is no guarantee, even after we reach the net-zero point, that we will limit eventual warming to 1.5掳C. The problem is that Article 4.1 says nothing about what happens, or needs to happen, after we reach the net-zero point. There is an infinite range of post net-zero possibilities,鈥 said Professor Wigley, Environment Institute member.

鈥淭o achieve the 1.5掳C goal, we must continue to reduce GHG emissions for a century or more after reaching the net-zero point. If we fail to meet this long-term emissions reduction challenge, the eventual warming will be greater than 1.5掳C, and could be significantly greater than 2掳C.鈥

Professor Wigley鈥檚 study is available as a听.

鈥淚f the net-zero point is not reached by 2036, all is not lost. We could still achieve the 1.5掳C eventual warming target by reducing emissions more rapidly after 2036,鈥 said Professor Wigley.

Flexibility after the net-zero point allows us to 鈥渃atch up鈥 if we appear to be failing to achieve an Article 2 goal, so, while specifying a particular net-zero target may be useful to 鈥渃oncentrate the mind鈥, it is of little value by itself in determining policy.

鈥淧olicies need to consider the whole suite of climate forcing agents, and, furthermore, look beyond the attaining of some net-zero GHG emissions point,鈥 said Professor Wigley.

Originally posted in the News archives.
Tagged in Environment Institute, Media Release, Publications, Science communication
Facebook and twitter

Newsletter & social media

Join us for a sensational mix of news, events and research at the Environment Institute. Find out about听new initiatives and听share with your friends what's happening.

听听听