May 31, 2025 | 16:00 GMT +7

  • Click to copy
Friday- 08:39, 03/02/2023

Business and consumers hamper climate fight: Report

(VAN) Corporations and consumers are the main obstacle to the emissions cuts needed to keep global warming to the 1.5 degree Celsius limit,...
Corporate responses and consumption patterns are 'undermining' efforts to cut emissions, the researchers said. Photo: AFP/Lionel Bonaventure

Corporate responses and consumption patterns are "undermining" efforts to cut emissions, the researchers said. Photo: AFP/Lionel Bonaventure

Corporations and consumers are the main obstacle to the emissions cuts needed to keep global warming to the 1.5 degree Celsius limit, researchers said on Wednesday (Feb 1), adding that "positive signs" in other areas are not yet enough to meet climate goals.

The report by a multidisciplinary team of researchers warned that staying within the 1.5 degree Celsius goal was "not plausible", but that this could change if societies stepped up their efforts to cut emissions.

"We see all kinds of positive signs, for example, the political protests, divestment decisions, climate litigation cases, transnational initiatives, this is all on the rise," said one of the study authors Anita Engels. "So you could think that we are really on a good track."

But she added: "We need to do so much more".

The report, the Hamburg Climate Futures Outlook, assessed the plausibility of achieving the emissions reductions necessary to limit temperatures in line with the Paris Agreement.

That 2015 deal saw nations agree to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times, preferably 1.5 degree Celsius.

Researchers looked at 10 societal factors that they considered to be the most important drivers of decarbonisation and found that currently none are yet at a level that would lead to the dramatic emissions reductions needed by 2050.

MEDIA "AMBIVALENT"

Using global databases and computer modelling, the authors found that seven social trends were moving tentatively in the right direction - including United Nations climate governance, regulation, litigation, and divestment from fossil fuels.

One - the media - was seen as "ambivalent".

But the two heading in the wrong direction were corporate responses and consumption patterns, which the researchers said "continue to undermine the pathways to decarbonisation".

The two are closely interlinked, said Engels.

"It would be so much easier if the way the products are produced is regulated in a way that (consumers) are not forced to buy climate destructive products," she told AFP.

The report said it was still too early to assess the potential impact of recent events such as Russia's invasion on Ukraine.

Researchers also looked at six physical processes around the planet, from the melting of ice sheets to fears that a deforested Amazon rainforest will transform into savannah.

Jochem Marotzke from the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology said that these and other physical processes were important, but that "we're not on a slippery slope".

It was human agency that would prove most decisive, he said.

HD

(AFP)

How the fertiliser king of WA grew a $5b fortune with no one noticing

How the fertiliser king of WA grew a $5b fortune with no one noticing

(VAN) Vikas Rambal has quietly built a $5 billion business empire in manufacturing, property and solar, and catapulted onto the Rich List.

Gaza’s agricultural infrastructure continues to deteriorate at alarming rate

Gaza’s agricultural infrastructure continues to deteriorate at alarming rate

(VAN) Available cropland now at less than five percent, according to latest geospatial assessment from FAO and UNOSAT.

Alt Carbon scores $12M seed to scale carbon removal in India

Alt Carbon scores $12M seed to scale carbon removal in India

(VAN) Alt Carbon has raised $12 million in a seed round as it plans to scale its carbon dioxide removal work in the South Asian nation.

Runaway rice prices spell danger for Japan’s prime minister as elections loom

Runaway rice prices spell danger for Japan’s prime minister as elections loom

(VAN) Attempts to bring down the price of the Japanese staple have had little effect amid a cost-of-living crisis.

Climate crisis threatens banana, world’s most popular fruit, research shows

Climate crisis threatens banana, world’s most popular fruit, research shows

(VAN) Fourth most important food crop in peril as Latin America and Caribbean suffer from slow-onset climate disaster.

Early nutrition research in poultry is speeding up

Early nutrition research in poultry is speeding up

(VAN) Shifting market dynamics and the noise around new legislation has propelled Trouw Nutrition’s research around early life nutrition in poultry. Today, it continues to be a key area of research.

Fears among India’s farmers rise over US food imports crossing ‘red line’

Fears among India’s farmers rise over US food imports crossing ‘red line’

(VAN) India is concerned about its food security and the livelihoods of its farmers if more US food imports are allowed.

Read more