The IPCC Working Group III Report on Climate Mitigation in 11 Tweets

15 April 2014, 0055 EDT

The IPCC released the Working Group III summary report for policymakers on Sunday. I wrote about the Working Group II report on impacts on The Monkey CageWorking Group III covers climate mitigation, that is the challenges of reducing greenhouse gases. Tonight, I read through the report and tweeted my sense of the main findings in an 11 part series that I embed below. My short take: there is not nearly enough in the 33 page document on barriers to implementation and international cooperation. I’m really looking forward to the release of the longer chapters. In the meantime, I encourage interested readers to take a look at five sectoral reports from my research group on the Major Economies and Climate Change.

I see that Duck contributor Johannes Urpelainen also has a short post up with his reaction. He concludes that the IPCC seems to endorse fossil fuel phaseout. My own sense of the main findings are a little different, the IPCC rather than making any recommendations seems mostly to be reporting on what different studies say would have to happen to keep temperatures and emissions below certain targets. Nonetheless, the clear implication is that the world would have to move away from fossil fuels by century’s end. In the meantime, we need carbon capture and storage, fuel switching to natural gas, and measures to lock up carbon in forests to buy us more time.