Yesterday saw a promising headline: at a recent G7 gathering, the leaders apparently agreed to the impossible: cutting carbon emissions by 40%-70% by 2050. The only real way to do this, obviously, is to cut the use of fossil fuels. And that’s what they apparently agreed to do.
Reading the related articles surrounding this, we can only wonder why they didn’t reach such an agreement sooner? It’s so simple! Just agree to not use fossil fuels, and it shall be done.
You have to admire politicians for their unshakable belief in the power of laws.
G7 leaders agree to phase out fossil fuels
Jun 8, 2015
The Group of Seven industrial powers have agreed the world should phase out fossil fuel emissions this century, in a move hailed as a historic decision in the fight against climate change.
The leaders of the US, Germany, France, the UK, Japan, Canada and Italy said they supported cutting greenhouse gases by 40 to 70 per cent by 2050 from 2010 levels — the first time they have backed such a precise long-term target.
The leaders also reaffirmed a pledge to mobilise $100bn a year from public and private sources by 2020 to help poorer nations tackle climate change.
(Source)
We’re going to examine this idea further, but first note the $100-billion-per-year pledge expected to materialize by 2020 to help poorer nations tackle climate change. I hate to say it, but that’s a completely insignificant sum given the enormity of the task.
Now, moving away from fossil fuels and towards alternative energy sources has never been done, and it’s expensive. Really expensive. To think that all of the poor nations will be able to adapt and adjust on $100 billion is a good start, but almost certainly not even close to being up to the task.
To understand why, just look at the scale of the problem. Coal is roughly half of the world's emissions problem, with oil and natural gas comprising the remaining balance:
(Source)
To reduce those emissions by 40%- 70% by 2050 (the blue arrows terminate at their tips in 2050) the world would need to reduce its fossil fuel energy use by some 30 to 40 billion tons from the current trend.
by time2help 
