14 “Carbon Bomb” Projects Will Increase Global Emissions
What’s the Latest Development?
A study commissioned by Greenpeace lists 14 planned fossil-fuel energy projects that, if allowed to proceed, will together increase global carbon dioxide emissions by 20 percent, making it even harder to stay within the targeted maximum global temperature increase of 2 degrees Celsius set by the International Energy Agency. China and Australia are at the top of the list of countries housing these projects, with each expected to contribute 1.4 billion tons and 760 million tons of greenhouse gases respectively. Projects planned for the Arctic region, Canada, and the US are also expected to play a big role in warming the atmosphere even further.
What’s the Big Idea?
Greenpeace Australia lead campaigner Georgina Woods says, “This is a last-ditch push by these companies to entrench themselves in a changing energy market. Countries which have agreed [at UN climate talks] that the [2-degree] tipping point can’t be passed should not allow these projects to go ahead.” The study, which is titled “The Point of No Return,” suggests that even if all 14 of these “carbon bomb” projects were canceled, the chance that global emissions would be kept below the 2-degree target would be 75 percent.
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