The Mediterranean region will deplete its remaining carbon budget by 2035 unless countries cut emissions by around 6% per year between 2030 and 2050.
That’s according to new research by the Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3) for OceanCare.
The report assesses carbon budgets and emissions pathways for the 21 signatories of the Barcelona Convention and warns that accelerating warming across the region threatens both ecosystems and communities.
Data from the Mediterranean Centre for Environmental Studies shows the sea’s surface temperature has risen by 1.5°C in the last 40 years.
“Science offers a frightening outlook for the Mediterranean area as a result of climate change. Unfortunately, despite the overwhelming evidence on the disproportionate impact of climate change in the Mediterranean, most range states are not taking a lead in decarbonisation efforts,” said Carlos Bravo, Oceans Policy Specialist at OceanCare.
He added: “Keeping the Mediterranean below 1.5 °C is an impossible mission; that opportunity has already passed.
But the decarbonisation target to stay within the 2 °C limit is still possible and is an obligation under the Paris Agreement.”
The study found that if 2023 emissions levels continue, the region’s carbon budget will be exhausted by 2035.
Under some allocation rules, several countries have already exceeded their fair share and may need to halt emissions by 2031.
Dr María Victoria Román, lead author at BC3, warned: “The time when the ecological transition could be envisaged as a gradual change is now over. The climate procrastination of states means we must either accelerate the transition or face the consequences of climate chaos.”
Mediterranean carbon budget to run out by 2035 appeared first on Energy Live News.