Hello friendly readers!
Firstly, let me
start by saying Happy New Year, I hope everyone found some joy in 2024
and can do so in 2025 as well. I've looked back on my articles (or lack
thereof) in 2024 and decided that this year I'll be a bit more organised
(or at least post more than twice…in my defence I did write an entire
manuscript in an article's place) starting with a look forward at 2025
and the significance it has for climate pledges and goals.
Consider
this my attempt to create a reminder list for the year on sustainability
pledges- but of course I'm one person at a computer researching, so if
you have any updates through the year or other pledges I miss, feel free
to leave a comment so we can see how things change- you don't need an
account to do so.
So, let's get into it.
The Paris Agreement, and Nationally Determined Contributions:
The
Goal of the Paris Agreement, signed on 12th December 2015 by 196
parties, is to Prevent the average global temperature exceeding 2°C
above pre-industrial levels and make an effort to limit this temperature
increase at 1.5°C above pre industrial levels through to 2100.
To
achieve the Paris Agreement, targets works in five year cycles, where
countries iteratively increase their climate goals through Nationally
Determined Contributions (NDC's). NDC's are the term given to a
country's plan of climate action. The first round of NDC's was submitted
in 2015, meaning that the third iteration are due early this year
(2025). The UK's last NDC set in 2020 committed to reducing greenhouse
gas emissions at least 68% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
Emissions Peak:
Furthermore,
on a global rather than a country specific target level, achieving the
preferable 1.5°C by 2100 goal means greenhouse emissions must peak before 2025,
and then reduce to 2030 by 43%. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as well as this 43% reduction needs to happen in tandem with a methane reduction of a third.
In 2022, an article by The Guardian reported that 'global carbon emissions from energy will peak in 2025', with references to the International Energy Agency, so we can keep watch over the rest of the year to see if these targets come to fruition.
The UK Seventh Carbon Budget:
Within
the Climate Change act of 2008, the UK government must set iterative
Carbon budgets to act as a cap on emissions that the UK can release
within each five year period. The UK Carbon budgets are set over a
decade in advance, so in 2025, the seventh budget is due which will
cover actions to be taken between 2038 and 2042.
Not only is the
seventh budget due in 2025, but in lieu of this, the Climate Change
Committee (CCC) will publish both advice for the seventh budget, and an
update to a path for net zero early on this year.
As a side
note, the CCC guidance in 2024 also stated that the UK 'SAF Mandate'
should begin in 2025, which sets increasing annual targets on fuel
suppliers for aviation.
Weirdly enough, that was all I could find,
but with NDCs being a big deal I guess there is still quite a bit going
on. As always, feel free to let me know if I've missed anything.
From the Mischief Weaver.
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