The new IPCC report was delayed as scientists debated reliance on carbon capture
by around mid-century—this is the point at which they are putting less greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere than they remove.. Many governments, though, plan to rely heavily on still-developing carbon capture technologies, or tree-planting over massive areas of land, in order to offset emissions from continuing to use fossil fuels for years to come.
The good news, the report says, is that we can afford to power the world with non-polluting energy sources. The unit cost of solar and wind energy has fallen by 85% and 55% respectively since 2010, the report notes, and lithium-ion batteries, which can be used to store renewable energy, are now 85% cheaper than they were a decade ago.
“Governments are well aware that [renewables] are often the cheapest form of energy, but they’re stuck in the political inertia behind the fossil fuel economy,” says Tom Evans, a researcher on geopolitics, climate diplomacy, and security at European climate think tank E3G. “Trying to stop that train crash is why you see millions of people taking to the streets and protesting about climate change.”
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