Countries should tax oil imports, cut methane emissions: Climate Group

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world must cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 43 percent by 2030 (compared to 2019 levels) and by at least 60 percent by 2035 to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius

3 minutes of reading Last update: Sep 22, 2024 | 10:04 AM IST

The international nonprofit Climate Group kicked off its annual Climate Week in New York on Sunday by calling on countries to tax oil and gas imports to fund a green transition, remove barriers to renewable energy and rapidly cut methane emissions.

Organized by the Climate Group in partnership with the United Nations, Climate Week NYC is an annual event in New York City where world leaders, entrepreneurs, activists and organizations come together to discuss and accelerate global climate action.

The Climate Group has released a seven-point to-do list to help the world meet its climate goals. The organization said UN climate negotiations and implementation alone are not delivering the pace of emissions reductions needed to avoid going over 1.5 degrees Celsius.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world must cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 43 percent by 2030 (compared to 2019 levels) and by at least 60 percent by 2035 to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The Earth’s global surface temperature has already risen by about 1.15 degrees Celsius compared with the 1850–1900 average due to rapidly increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases – primarily carbon dioxide and methane – in the atmosphere.

“But global emissions remain at dangerous levels despite rapid growth in renewables and electric vehicle sales. Coal and oil use have surged. Even the United States, with the most ambitious climate administration in history, only cut emissions by 1.9 percent in 2023,” the Climate Group said in a statement.

“It’s time for a reality check. We can’t keep making ambitious commitments and then only half-deliver on them… Climate discussions often focus on the targets we need to achieve by 2030 or even 2050. These are important milestones, but when it comes to the results we need now, we continue to collectively fall short,” said Helen Clarkson, CEO of the Climate Group.

The group called on G20 countries to agree on a minimum new “oil and gas import tax” to support the energy transition and remove barriers to the rapid deployment of renewables to achieve the target of tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030.

It also calls on governments to rapidly reduce methane emissions and create a strong global agency to monitor and reduce methane leaks.

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that has a warming impact more than 80 times greater than CO2 over a 20-year period. It is responsible for almost a third of the rise in global temperatures since the industrial revolution.

The nonprofit has advocated for greater compensation for workers to ensure a just transition away from coal and has called for a ban on replacing the liners in coal-based steel furnaces. “Electric furnaces and green hydrogen production should be the norm from now on,” it said.

The Climate Group has suggested that governments and businesses should prioritise purchasing low-carbon products and renewable energy, and that all businesses should take action to increase energy efficiency by five per cent within a year by retrofitting buildings and using electric vehicles.

(Only the headline and image of the report may have been edited by the Business Standard team; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)

First published: Sep 22, 2024 | 10:04 AM IST