Curtailing Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide to Meet the Targets of the Paris Agreement using Technology Support Mechanisms
AUTHORS
Nitin Agarwala,National Maritime Foundation, New Delhi, India
Semion Polinov,Maritime Policy & Strategy Research Center, University of Haifa, Israel
ABSTRACT
Increasing the contribution of carbon dioxide emissions due to anthropogenic factors has been a subject of discussion for many years now. One of the positive outcomes of these discussions was the Paris Agreement that aims to limit the global average temperature rise between 1.5°C to 2.0°C over preindustrial levels. To achieve this target, countries were required to self-manage their GHG emissions to limit the global average temperature rise to 2.0°C by 2030 and then slowly transition to zero-emission by 2050 to eventually achieve 1.5°C of global average temperature rise. However, over the last two decades, the efforts to achieve the targets of the Paris Agreement have had mixed success, thereby making the set targets a dream and forcing the world community to rethink if the set goals are realistic and achievable. Recent studies of carbon dioxide emitted during the first quarter of 2020 due to forced confinement as a result of COVID-19 have shown a reduction by nearly 17 percent, thereby, re-kindling the belief that the targets of the Paris Agreement are achievable. It is with this motivation that the article reviews how and why carbon dioxide concentration has been increasing over the years and how anthropogenic contributions are affecting the delicate balance of the air quality that is leading to accelerated climate change. Also, the paper discusses the technological imperatives proposed by IPCC to address the increasing anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions and the technology support mechanisms required for achieving the Paris Agreement targets.
KEYWORDS
Anthropogenic carbon dioxide, Climate change, Energy; GHG emission, Natural carbon dioxide, Support mechanism, Technology, Transportation
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