A new report has come out which has calculated how much fossil fuel needs to stay in the ground in order for us to have a chance of hitting emissions reduction targets. Unsurprisingly to anyone who has studied the climate crisis, the analysis shows that the vast majority of fossil fuels, must remain unextracted if the Paris targets are to remain possible. Of course there are many other factors to global heating, especially deforestation for agriculture, which is why this report is so shocking. Keeping 90% of coal and about 60% of oil and gas in the ground is necessary only to have a 50% chance of slowing the process down. For SDG students, it is also important to note the report does not call for all fossil fuel extraction to stop immediately which recognises the immense complexity of our energy needs, supply capacities, business needs, job prospects and so on which all have to be balanced against the environment. You can see a summary in The Guardian.
Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.