The sluggish expansion of renewable energies is a failure of politics.
(Photo: imago images/blickwinkel)
Seven years – that’s how long the global economy can continue to emit CO2 at the current rate until the 1.5 degree target is reached. And even that is still the optimistic scenario. Because the only year since the beginning of industrialization in which it was actually possible to reduce global CO2 emissions was the year 2020, which was shaped by the pandemic. It is unlikely that there will be such an abrupt and involuntary standstill in economic activity again . This continues the ominous trend of rising emissions.
Because in all other years since measurements began, emissions have risen continuously. Experts expect this development to intensify in the coming years.
The main reason for this is the West’s conflict with Russia, which has led to a shortage of global gas supplies. As a result, coal and oil are becoming more important as energy sources again. They pollute the climate much more than gas, which for this reason should play an important bridging function on the way to climate neutrality in many industries.
It is therefore clear that if the world does not manage to save significantly more CO2 than previously planned in the second half of the decade, the two-degree target will also be in jeopardy in the medium term. Exceeding this limit is again associated with greater dangers for mankind: if 1.5 degrees warming by 2050, at least 70 percent of all coral reefs in the world’s oceans will die out, with warming by two degrees it will be even 100 percent – while the risk of flood events would not just increase by 100 percent, but by 170 percent.
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However, the CO2-intensive companies in Europe cannot be blamed for this: In most cases, they are dependent on the availability of sufficient green energy to enable them to switch to climate-neutral production processes.
We can no longer afford to be considerate
The fact that the expansion of wind and solar power is progressing so sluggishly, especially in Germany, is first and foremost a failure on the part of politicians – as is the hitherto high dependence on Russian natural gas, which is now causing us to temporarily have to use more climate-damaging energies to meet our short-term needs to meet energy needs.
Unilaterally committing the economy to new targets over the next few years will therefore not work as the sole remedy for progressing climate change. Rather, Berlin and Brussels must now begin to set the right framework conditions – starting with an uncompromising expansion of renewable energies and the corresponding infrastructure to transport the green electricity from the windy coast to the industrial centers of the Federal Republic.
In view of the lack of time, we can no longer afford to be considerate of complaining residents and species-protecting environmental organizations. Industry can only follow suit once politicians have made progress on the expansion of wind and solar power. This must now happen as soon as possible.
More: Dax companies are emitting more CO2 again.