News Archive - emissions

What effect will Covid-19 have on global warming in the long-term?

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Even in the relatively short period of time that the world has been in lockdown – although it sometimes feels like years – the fall in energy use and emissions has had a profound impact on the environment. Clear canals in Venice was one thing but a see-through sea on Blackpool’s coast, who’d have thought we’d ever see the day!

Energy demand has plummeted during the Covid-19 pandemic which is obviously a sign that the economy is suffering a major slowdown, and as a result global carbon dioxide emissions are anticipated to be eight percent lower this year compared to 2019. It is a silver lining to what is otherwise a metaphorical, if not meteorological, dark cloud.

But whilst the environmental changes mentioned are striking, carbon dioxide lingers around the atmosphere for a long time, making snapshot judgements about the long-term impact of this period hard to quantify, although atmospheric expert, Keith Shine, forecasts a mere 0.0025°C reduction in global warming in about two decades’ time.

Rebound effect

An article that recently appeared in Foreign Policy in Focus points out that once life gets back to any kind of ‘normal’, emissions will rise, and so too will the levels of pollution that fill the skies.

In fact, the rebound could be even worse.

As the article points out, in the initial aftermath of the global financial crisis of 2008, global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion and cement production decreased by 1.4 percent, only to rise by 5.9 percent in 2010.

And the crisis this time could have a longer-term impact on the environment, derailing worldwide efforts to bring about climate change.

Stalled progress

While the need for climate change action has never been more pressing, Covid-19 has prevented world leaders from getting together to tackle the issue.

Due to the pandemic, the UN’S annual climate summit has already been put back from November to an, as yet, unspecified date in 2021.

Looking at the aviation industry specifically, one of the biggest contributors to global emissions (estimated to be 2 per cent), under-pressure airline companies are pressing regulators to delay emissions-cutting policies.

This year was supposed to be a pivotal one for progress in tackling climate change, however Covid-19 is doing its level best to prevent lift-off.

All change for the energy industry as emissions hit a record low

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Global emissions are set for unprecedented fall this year as a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a report in Bloomberg Green.

As less oil, gas and electricity is consumed due to the slowdown in industrial activity across the globe, and renewables take up a larger share of the energy market, global emissions will fall by 8% (2.6 billion metric tons) in 2020 – the largest fall in history.

“The energy industry that emerges from this crisis will be significantly different from the one that came before,” Fatih Birol, the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) executive director, said in a statement released from the organisation’s headquarters in Paris on Thursday.

Even though overall energy demand has decreased by as much as 6% this year, renewables in many countries get first priority to feed electricity into the grid.

While fossil-fuel generators shut down to prevent a system overload, there is nothing to stop solar, wind and hydro power producers selling all their output.

Unseasonably warm, yet windy, weather throughout April has also been favourable for solar and wind farm owners and the dominance of green energy in the overall market is only set to continue with low-carbon sources set to be responsible for 40% of global electricity generation.

It’s not all a breeze for renewables

Renewables are still facing challenges of their own, however. In the wake of Covid-19, renewable energy has been rocked by global supply chain disruption and heightened part costs.

Around 11% of the world’s wind turbines were shut this week because of the virus, according to Bloomberg, while work on constructing new wind farms has been delayed by restrictions on the movement of workers and regulatory processes.

With the big oil players all having significantly invested in renewable energy, an article in Power Technology says they are expected to respond to the record slump in oil prices by cost-cutting and shifting focus away from their clean energy commitments in the short term.

All things considered, this could lead to a slowdown in new renewable energy projects coming online this year.

Heavy-emitting firms lagging behind Paris Agreement targets

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Emission reduction targets aligned to the Paris Agreement’s 2C global warming limit are set to be missed by the vast majority of the highest-emitting listed companies, according to the Transition Pathway Initiative’s (TPI) annual report.

The report assessed 238 energy, industrial and transport companies on projected emissions intensity and found that just 18% (43 companies) are on track to deliver emission reductions that are aligned to climate science, with the oil and gas industries lagging behind other sectors. Electric utilities and paper companies, for example, are on the right trajectory.

TPI’s co-chair and chief responsible investment officer at Brunel Pension Partnership Faith Ward said: “The IEA has warned that, while carbon emissions will likely decline this year, in the medium term the coronavirus outbreak could slow down the low carbon transition, as green investments are put on hold by cash-strapped governments and businesses.

“It is therefore of deep concern that so few companies were on the right path before the virus struck. Investors must now use their influence to ensure that climate commitments are ramped up, not discarded in the face of short-term financial pressures.”

The report found that heavy emitting companies in sectors like aluminium, steel and shipping are failing to disclose, or simply don’t have, emissions reduction data aligned to the Paris Agreement.

Professor Simon Dietz, research lead for TPI and Professor of Environmental Policy at the LSE’s Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, said: “Our analysis shows that not only have relatively few companies set emissions targets aligned with the Paris Agreement goals, not all of the companies that have done so are actually on track to meet those targets.

“Particularly in the cement, oil and gas and steel sectors, few companies are reducing their emissions fast enough to deliver their targets. In some cases, companies with targets actually saw their emissions intensity go up in recent years. This shows that investors must not only look at what targets companies have set but also at what those companies are doing on the ground and in the boardroom to deliver them.”

Source: edie.net

Carbon net-zero heroes

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The only zeros most business leaders used to concern themselves with were the ones added to a long line of figures on a balance sheet.

However, mention the word zero nowadays and it’ll mostly be included in a conversation about sustainability.

This is not smoke and mirrors stuff, anything but, the mind-shift can be seen in all business sectors as the world economy strives for a greener future.

Emission reduction is no flight of fancy

The budget airline, Ryanair, doesn’t always get the best press but the recent appointment of its first director of sustainability has to be applauded. Blue sky thinking indeed.

Thomas Fowler is the man responsible for the company meeting its own target of reducing emissions per passenger per kilometre from 66g at the end of 2019 to 60g by 2030.

Crucially, they now publish monthly emissions data on their website. “Once you publish [pledges and data], you have to stand over them,” Fowler said. “Transparency and disclosure are going to become a bigger play for us in the next few years.”

Following in its slipstream are Etihad Airways who have started to make long-haul flights free from single-use plastic.

Fossil fuels are history

Another company changing the narrative, this time in the financial world, is Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager. Blackrock has already made strides on its stance to remove fossil fuels from its portfolio and is committed to embedding climate action into its investment decisions.

Elsewhere, the drinks are on BrewDog, in celebration of the trendy craft beer firm’s pledge to give customers an equity stake in the company if they recycle beer cans.

And Heineken-owned cider brand, Old Mout, have unveiled a new partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), aimed at uniting young consumers in a drive to protect natural habitats and save endangered species from extinction.

The green machine

All these efforts are just the tip of the iceberg – admittedly not the best turn of phrase given the threat to Antarctica by global warming – as figures released by BloombergNEF (BNEF) show that there has been a large increase in new corporate sustainability commitments.

For example, BNEF’s 1H 2020 Corporate Energy Market Outlook found that corporates purchased 19.5GW of clean power through power purchase agreements (PPAs) last year, up from 13.6GW in 2018 and more than triple the levels recorded in 2017.

BNEF’s lead sustainability analyst Jonas Rooze said: “Corporations have purchased more than 50GW of clean energy since 2008. That is bigger than the power generation fleets of markets like Vietnam and Poland. These buyers are reshaping power markets and the business models of energy companies around the world.”

Small steps to sustainability

Of course, not all companies are big enough to warrant having a director of sustainability on their books or write open cheques to charitable causes, but there are plenty of small measures, such as those listed below, that can be easily implemented in an affordable way.

  • Green energy procurement
  • Power Purchase Agreements
  • Self-Generation Schemes
  • Electric Vehicle incentives
  • Waste to Energy Recycling
  • Staff training – behavioural changes

Energy Management has a new Net-Zero business model that helps clients reduce their carbon emissions.

If you’d like us to help you join some of the biggest global companies and be at the forefront of the climate change agenda, you can get in touch with us by email sales@energymanagementltd.com or call 01225-867722.