We have a situation on our hands. The ingenuity of man towards making life better for everyone is backed up by honest and good intentions. However, it would seem like virtually all chemical and biological processes to this end end up with one waste product—Carbon. It can be in several forms such as CO2, CO, sometimes as hydrocarbons, or outright Carbon gas. These gases are the leading contributors to atmospheric conditions leading to climate change, the effects of which are evident in the rise in heat levels, flooding, loss of polar ice, heavy rainfall, landslides and biodiversity loss.
And it's not just industrial activities that cause this (although they contribute a lot to it), even nature is wired that way. For instance, breathe in. Now, breathe out. You just gave out Carbon. So, you would agree with me that we indeed have a situation on ground. And to solve it, there is need to remove Carbon from the atmosphere at a rate equal to the rate at which it is being emitted, at the very least. This is what Carbon Neutrality is all about.
What is Carbon Neutrality?
According to the European Parliament, carbon neutrality means balancing the amount of carbon generated and that absorbed by carbon sinks. A carbon sink is a system that removes more carbon from the atmosphere than the amount it emits. Natural examples are forests, oceans and soils. These natural sinks do a lot to protect the planet but there is need for the creation of artificial carbon sinks to achieve carbon neutrality. Studies have shown that natural carbon sinks absorb about 9.5-11 gigatonne of CO2 every year, but in 2021, the carbon emissions was estimated to be about 37.8 gigatonne globally. So, you see that we still have so much carbon around.
Check out the latest @UN reports on #ClimateChange - covering current emissions & their impacts, country level #ClimateAction vs. the pledges made through the #ParisAgreement & the pathways to lead us to carbon neutrality by 2050 | @UNDP @UNFCCC https://t.co/qxTTM34YJP pic.twitter.com/vzHh6ay1r4
— UNDP Climate (@UNDPClimate) January 4, 2020
Achieving carbon neutrality cannot be attained without the introduction of artificial carbon sinks to support the natural ones. But before we go into that, let's talk about what the people, planet and prosperity stand to gain when carbon neutrality is achieved.
What Carbon Neutrality Brings to the Table
- Global warming which is the umbrella effect of carbon emissions will be reduced drastically. As green house effects are being fueled by the nonstop emission of carbon, carbon neutrality has been predicted to help limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C - 2.0°C by 2050.
- Enormous efforts put together by all countries to achieve carbon neutrality will help cushion the effects of climate change which will in turn lessen the threat to the very existence of all species on earth.
- Carbon neutrality when achieved will mitigate the sea level rise which is a particularly serious issue that potentially threatens over 100 million people in this century and much more in the long run.
- Fossil fuel emission will be reduced drastically when carbon neutrality is achieved, which in turn will reduce earth's surface temperature which has risen by 1.2°C since the pre-industrial era.
- Since the 1850s, humans have depleted nearly half of the fossil fuel resources that took hundreds of millions of years to be formed throughout the entire earth's history, and at the present depletion rate, will take less than 100 years to exhaust this fossil energy. Carbon neutrality would be the ultimate solution to this pending crisis.
- Carbon neutrality tends to provide a strong economic incentive to develop renewable energy sources as substitutes to fossil fuel and our society will move in the right direction towards a carbon free future.
- Working towards carbon neutrality will encourage energy-conserving lifestyles by establishing high carbon prices in markets and in essence, technologies and infrastructures for implementing reduced emissions will soar and ultimately play an important role in achieving carbon neutrality.
Having seen the importance in plugging into carbon neutralising provisions for the protection of our planet, what such provisions are available to us, and are there more innovative ones we can come up with? These and more will be the subject of our discussion next week.
References
- Carbon neutrality: Toward a sustainable future. -Jing M. Chen
- European Parliament: Directorate General for Communication. Article 20190926STO62270
— Abdulsalam Abdulquddus
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