19 Jun 2024
RIYADH: Global industries must halve emissions by the end of this decade to reach 2050 net-zero targets, according to a new analysis urging for increased clean energy infrastructure spending.
In its latest report, compiled in association with BAE Systems, US-based consultancy firm Oliver Wyman emphasized the urgency of preserving clean water, stopping deforestation, and protecting nearly 1 million threatened species to safeguard the planet.
The UN has set ambitious climate targets, including reducing global emissions by 45 percent by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Governments, particularly major emitters, are called upon to significantly enhance their Nationally Determined Contributions and take immediate, decisive actions to curb emissions, as outlined by the UN.
Underlining the importance of acting swiftly, the Oliver Wyman report said: “To avoid the worst impacts of climate change and ecosystem degradation, we must cut global emissions in half, halt and reverse nature loss, and achieve climate resilience by the end of this decade.”
It added: “The scale of this challenge is monumental. It requires the wholesale reallocation of capital from brown to green, the transformation of assets and supply chains from climate-vulnerable to climate-resilient, and the protection and restoration of ecosystems on a global scale.”
The report disclosed that just 1 percent — equivalent to $27 billion — of today’s $2.7 trillion annual infrastructure investment is climate-resilient.
“By 2030, that $27 billion needs to have grown to $6.9 trillion. In the same period, investment in nature-based solutions must triple to $400 billion a year,” said the consulting firm.