2050 climate targets: nations are playing the long game in fighting global warming

Electric cars are one of the keys
 to long-term decarbonisation.

While much of the media focus at this month’s climate meeting in Marrakech (COP22) was on US President-elect Donald Trump, there were signs that several countries have begun the long-term planning needed to avoid dangerous climate change.

During the conference, four countries – Germany, Canada, Mexico and the United States – presented their 2050 climate plans. Under Article 4 of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, all countries are asked to prepare mid-century, long-term strategies to bring greenhouse gas emissions down to low levels.

A common theme from COP22 was the emphasis on long-term strategies to help guide short-term actions. When launching the 2050 Pathways Platform, Laurence Tubiana, the outgoing French high-level climate champion, stated that if you don’t have a plan for the long term, you can’t know what a good decision is today.

Read the piece on The Conversation  by Scott Ferraro (Head of Implementation) and John Thwaites (Chair of the Monash Sustainability Institute and ClimateWorks) both from Monash University - “2050 climate targets: nations are playing the long game in fighting global warming.”