Scientists warn that we cannot rely too much on natural CO2 sinks
The world cannot direct all its decarbonization efforts towards natural carbon sinks, since their future contribution “is uncertain” since they are also affected by the climate crisis, so “a rapid and controlled elimination of fuels is necessary fossils”.
This is revealed by the report ’10 new scientific perspectives’, prepared by a group of renowned scientists such as, among others, the director of the Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research, Johan Rockström, the IPCC scientist Oliver Geden or the CREAF researcher Marcos Fernandez.
This study, the result of collaboration between Future Earth, The Earth League and World Climate Research Programme, has been presented every year since 2017 at the UN climate summits, and its latest version was presented at COP28, which is currently being held in Dubai (United Arab Emirates).
The document presented this Sunday warns, for example, of the near “inevitability” of exceeding the safety threshold set by the UN climate expert group: the degree and a half of increase in the Earth’s average temperature above pre-industrial levels.
It also highlights other strong impacts that have worsened in recent years, such as the acceleration of the loss of mountain glaciers or the growing human immobility in areas with high climate risks.
It also reviews some of the strategies that countries should implement to stop warming: starting with a “rapid and controlled phase-out of fossil fuels” and a reform of food systems.
All of this, they point out, must be supported by “solid policies” and a model of “joint governance” with new tools that make justice “operational.”