Keeping 1.5°C Alive

The Energy Transitions Commission’s work has sought to identify critical actions for the 2020s in order to achieve net-zero by mid-century. Electrifying, and therefore decarbonising, the global economy is the key to achieve the necessary emissions reductions to deliver a more than 50% chance of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

The critical actions for this, and the next, decade are set out across our Energy Programmes work. However, the sum of these actions still falls short of what is required. Alongside them, ETC analysis has analysed the role of finance and the necessary scale-up of carbon dioxide removals.

The ETC’s finance work provides valuable insights into the investments required for a low-carbon economy, with detailed sector and income group breakdowns. It also compares required investments to potential fossil fuel savings, while emphasising the importance of real economy policies and specific financial sector actions in mobilising finance.

Carbon dioxide removals (CDR) cannot substitute for rapid and deep global decarbonisation, but if scaled up alongside ambitious reductions in emissions, removals from nature, engineered and hybrid solutions can give the world a greater chance of preventing global temperatures from rising more than 1.5°C.