Science & Environment| Science & Environment

Nemet, a professor in the UW-Madisons La Follette School of Public Affairs and a member of the team that authored a report on how to slow down climate change, which was released Monday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

After returning from Vienna, Nemet said Tuesday that he had come away from the weekend optimistic after negotiating with government officials about policy recommendations.

According to the report of the top climate scientists around the world, despite national pledges to reduce emissions, greenhouse gases caused by human activity have continued their climb.

In fact, almost half of all greenhouse gasses released since 1850 were produced within the past three decades. While the rate of increase has slowed in recent years, emissions released between 2010-2019 were still the highest.

Researchers concluded that carbon dioxide emissions must begin to fall within the next three year and be reduced nearly in half by this decade to prevent the worst.

It has been almost seven years since 196 countries signed a treaty to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius this century, and ideally not more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.

But temperatures have risen more than 1.1 degrees since preindustrial times. This has led to more frequent and severe floods, heat and hurricanes, which has resulted in billions of dollars in losses and increased risk.

According to the panel the current emissions rate will cause the target to be unattainable.

The co-chair of the report, James Skea from Imperial College London, stated that if we continue to behave as we do, we will not be able to limit warming below 2 degrees.

However, the authors noted that there is still time to get back on the right track.

The report calls on a rapid switch from fossil fuels, to clean energy like solar and wind power; promotion and support of plant-based diets; conservation of energy; and financial assistance for developing countries.

Nemet’s research focuses on the mechanisms that make solar panels affordable. The report, according to Nemet, shows that the technology and policies required are now within reach.

He said that it is actually possible to make the change.

He encouraged 18 nations, including the United States to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions over the past decade. However, this was not enough to offset the increase in other parts of the globe.

Nemet worked with over 350 scientists in the past three years to compile the 3,675-page document. These scientists responded to more that 20,000 comments and critiques.

The authors worked almost non-stop over the weekend, negotiating with world leaders about every word of a 37 page summary for policymakers, which was supposed to be delivered Friday. However, it was not released until Monday.

He said that now that the report has been approved, it has gained buy-in. Countries can take the report, and say that they can reduce this amount. It has a lot of credibility than if scientists simply said so.

Nemet stated that despite all the political wrangling Nemet believed that countries pushing for continued reliance upon fossil fuels had little impact on the report.

He said that I was just amazed at how the idea of speaking truth and power won the day. This is the part science is clear about. It doesn’t make sense to say fossil fuels have a large role in the future.

This report was compiled by the Associated Press.