This report from The Climate Group finds that scaling up energy efficiency and renewable energy while avoiding deforestation can dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the short term, and are much-needed steps to achieve global climate goals.

From the executive summary:

In recent years the scientific evidence on climate change has become increasingly clear: it is now almost universally accepted that, in order to minimise the risk of irreversible damage to our planet and our livelihoods, we need to strive to keep the average global temperature increase below 2°C. it is also widely recognised that, to achieve this, we will need to peak global emissions before 2020 and then reduce them by 50-85% below 2000 levels, setting interim targets along the way.

Likewise, the political will to act is in place. Heads of government from all parts of the world have declared their willingness to adopt ambitious emissions targets, both individually and collectively, but have wanted to be sure that such goals, while certainly challenging, are practically achievable. This report shows that this is indeed the case.

From analysis of the current status of the major abatement solutions, we draw five major conclusions:

1.We know the technologies we need, where to deploy them and the investment required.
2. The technologies required to meet our 2020 goals are already proven, available now and the policies needed to implement them known.
3. Investment now in the technologies of the future order is essential if we are to meet longer-term targets.
4. Financial support will be needed to enable global deployment of low-carbon technologies but the non-climate benefits are also significant.
5. Copenhagen can provide the spur for international collaboration that will bring costs down and accelerate diffusion and deployment.

Successfully reducing emissions to prevent dangerous climate change is without doubt a huge challenge and will require a revolution in the way we produce and consume energy, travel and design and manage our urban and rural environments. However, the pathway to this revolution is clear and, by means of ambitious international collaboration to develop and deploy low-carbon technologies, well within our grasp. We know what we have to do; this report shows us how.

Click Here to Download Full Report:

http://www.greenerbuildings.com/files/document/Technology_for_a_low_carbon_future_report.pdf

Article courtesy of Greener Buildings