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Clean energy transition must be fast and fair, IPCC scientists say

(Reuters, 4 Apr 2022) Swift and deep emissions cuts are vital to keep people safe, but they must be equitable and include development aims, report says.

As climate-heating fossil fuel emissions continue to rise, renewed efforts to slash them must be fair and take into account countries' other key priorities - such as development in poorer nations - or they will likely fail, scientists warned on Monday.

Emissions will have to be cut swiftly and deeply across economies to limit global warming to internationally agreed temperature limits, they said in a new flagship science report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

But "if you do that at the expense of justice, of poverty eradication and the inclusion of people, then you're back at the starting block", said Fatima Denton, one of its 278 authors.

The report's release was delayed by six hours, after governments tasked with approving a key policy summary wrangled over equity, finance and other thorny issues, including how big a role "nature-based solutions" like tree-planting should play in cutting emissions.

The report did not call for the full abandonment of fossil fuels but emphasised that the technology needed to shift to clean energy is largely available and getting ever cheaper.

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Reuters, 4 Apr 2022: Clean energy transition must be fast and fair, IPCC scientists say