Alexandrum79 / WIRED

When the nations of the world adopted the Paris Agreement in 2015, they agreed to keep global temperature rise to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, or ideally to 1.5 degrees Celsius. But we’re not doing enough.

Now, the UK government's climate advisers have again warned that the country is nowhere near ready to deal with the increasingly frequent heatwaves and floods. To limit warming – and avoid the devastating effects of climate change – CO2 emissions need to fall drastically within the next decade and reach “net zero” by around 2050.


On the current trajectory, the world is likely to pass the 1.5 degrees Celsius mark between 2030 and 2052 unless it finds a way to avoid emissions and draw existing CO2 out of the atmosphere through reforestation and carbon storage technologies. There are many ways to seriously tackle the climate crisis – and they will need to work in conjunction – but here are some of the solutions that are crucial in the pursuit.

1. Planting one trillion trees

Scientists from ETH Zurich have found there are 1.7 billion hectares of land – an area the size of the US – on which 1.2 trillion trees could be planted without affecting cities or agriculture. Once these forests are mature, they could absorb around 205 gigatonnes of carbon (GtC), about two-thirds of the 300 GtC of extra carbon that exist in the atmosphere. The figure does not take account of the carbon that is stored in the vegetation and soil where these trees would be planted.

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But there’s a catch. If the bold plan was to go ahead, some of the trees will take 50-100 years to mature and reach this carbon capture potential. And planting would need to start immediately. In a warming climate, newly-planted forests won’t thrive as much or survive for long enough to have the desired effect. Under a “business as usual” climate change scenario by 2050, the area available for forest restoration could be reduced by a fifth.

Many countries are already committed to planting trees, including the 48 that signed up to the Bonn Challenge in early 2019. The initiative aims to restore 350 million hectares of forest by 2030. But they are slow in doing so. For instance, the UK’s independent Committee of Climate Change said that 1.5bn new trees would be required for the next 30 years to increase woodland cover from 13 to 17 per cent in the country. This equates to planting an area of 30,000 hectares every year. In the year through to March 2019, only 13,400 hectares were planted in the UK.


2. Shifting to ocean-based renewable energy

Tides, waves and ocean currents have been touted for their enormous potential in generating energy. In theory, marine-renewable energy (excluding offshore wind turbines) could deliver up to 7,400 exajoules (EJ) a year, which well exceeds current and future energy demand. In 2018, the global electricity demand grew by four per cent to more than 23,000 Terawatts per hour (TWh) – this equates to nearly 83 EJ.

Ocean energy technologies can be deployed relatively rapidly and are less of a constraint in terms of available space compared to onshore technologies. And any replacement of fossil fuels by marine renewables would avoid greenhouse gas emissions. However, most ocean energy resources are less predictable than wind and solar – except for tidal current flows. Their timing is usually predictable and not impacted too much by changes in weather.

Wind has already become a major power source. The UK has installed more offshore wind farms than any country and it is said to provide enough power for 4.5 million homes. However, tidal energy is not receiving as much support: the government recently rejected plans for what would have been the first tidal lagoon power plant in Swansea Bay.

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3. Capturing CO2 before it enters the atmosphere

Despite still being in their infancy, carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies have the potential to pull unavoidable CO2 from power plants and industrial spaces, injecting it into deep underground rock formations or storage facilities. There are currently some 20 plants in operation or construction, a figure the Global CCS Institute say should reach 2,000 by 2040.

The UK announced its first large plant in May 2019. Within two years, the Cheshire plant could store 40,000 tonnes of CO2 every year, or the equivalent of removing 22,000 cars from UK roads. The trapped emissions could also be purified and converted into baking soda. CCS could also generate power for the steel and cement industries, which rely on carbon in their chemical processes. The technology may be the only one to truly decarbonise these sectors.

4. Electric cars and planes

European car and lorry makers are having to cut carbon dioxide emissions for new vehicles by 35 per cent in the next 20 years, while the UK wants all cars and vans on its roads to be all-electric by 2050. The electric car industry is booming but the UK seems to be slow to pick up the trends. Around two per cent of households currently own a hybrid or all-electric car, there are about 210,000 electric vehicles in total. Millions of petrol and diesel cars will have to be replaced to reach a net zero target for transport emissions, but the materials needed to produce the battery technology is insufficient.

Batteries are too heavy for aircraft so manufacturers and airlines will need to find other solutions to power the increasing number of flights. Aviation currently accounts for two per cent of all carbon emissions, a figure that is set to triple by 2050. Scientists are already experimenting with algae, food waste and other alternatives to petroleum-based fuels. But these green fuels will have to become significantly cheaper and commercially viable to catch the industry’s attention. Meanwhile, hybrid-electric jets might provide a feasible solution on short-haul flights – Rolls-Royce recently acquired Siemens’ electric aircraft business, which has been working on propulsion solutions for the industry.

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5. Eating less red meat

Livestock is responsible for 14.5 per cent of all human-caused carbon emissions with cattle making up nearly two-thirds of that. Beef production uses 28 times more land and 11 times more water, according to a 2014 study. And as the demand for red meat continues to grow, more forests are being cut to make room for cattle ranching.

University of Oxford researchers recently analysed the environmental impact of food and found that consumers will need to transition to a “flexitarian” diet to keep climate change under 2 degrees Celsius by 2050. Beef consumption in western countries would need to drop by 90 per cent and be replaced by five times more beans and pulses. Dairy consumption will also need to drop substantially by 60 per cent. A third of UK consumers have already said they eat less meat or have removed it from their diet entirely and last year, the UK overtook Germany as the nation launching the higher number of new vegan food products.

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