Title : Synergies and tradeoffs of achieving carbon-neutrality under ongoing global challenges
Abstract:
Human impacts on the environment, mainly through greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, are currently among the biggest threats. However, scientific information on GHGs is limited and varies by emission type and region. Therefore, this review analyzed the synergies and trade-offs of carbon neutrality (CN) in the context of ongoing global challenges. Accordingly, petroleum operations release about 2.00 × 107 tons of CH4 and 5.00 × 107 tons of CO2 annually. Agriculture, forestry, and other land uses accounted for 13% of CO2, 44% of CH4, and 82% of N2O. CO2 concentrations have risen by 50% above preindustrial concentrations. Terrestrial ecosystems absorb 30% of human-caused CO? emissions annually. Therefore, limiting warming to 1.5ºC requires land-based mitigation. Moreover, carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies and Nuclear power reduce 40 million metric tons of CO? yr-1 and 1.88 GtCO2-eq, respectively. Transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy could reduce CO? emissions by 70% by 2050. However, this requires funding and technological support. Therefore, uneven implementation and lack of coordinated action are challenges to achieving CN. For instance, only 10%, 56%, 36%, 27%, and 21% of populations in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, East Asia, and South-East Asia, respectively, have access to modern energy cooking services. Similarly, only 4.5%, 10.6%, 8.6%, 29.3%, 47%, and 60.6% of countries have already achieved carbon neutrality, are committed to doing so, have passed legislation, have developed pertinent policies, are currently debating pertinent documents, and plan to do so by 2050–2070, respectively. Though emissions must be reduced to only 400 billion tons annually, the reduction trend is lower than the increase. Accordingly, navigating complex trade-offs, such as land-use conflicts and transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy, is required. Therefore, renewable energy, CCS, artificial photosynthesis, reducing agricultural emissions, and greening are suggested.
Keywords: climate change, energy transition, greenhouse gas emission, land use change, net zero, renewable energy, Sustainable Development Goals
