New approach needed to tackle climate change, says Institute

A new report from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers argues that with only four decades to go (to meet 80% GHG reduction targets), the UK is already losing the climate change mitigation battle. The greenhouse gas emission targets set by the Government require a rate of reduction that has never been achieved by even the most progressive nations in the world. The report, �Climate Change: have we lost the battle?' argues that if the UK is realistically going to reach an outcome equivalent to a reduction of 80% by 2050, it needs to start mapping out an alternative solution using all engineering methods possible and not only relying on mitigation. To decarbonise the nation and achieve the 80% reduction in GHG output by 2050, the UK will need to undertake a monumental task at a scale it has never seen before, reducing carbon output per unit of GDP by over 5% annually until 2050. Between 2001 and 2006, it achieved an average of 1.3% annual reduction, but in more recent years, progress has been far more limited. The report argues for a MAG approach to climate change: MAG is the integration of Mitigation, Adaptation and Geo-engineering into one unified and coherent policy which addresses both national and international concerns. This MAG approach to climate change would allow the UK to achieve an outcome equivalent to meeting the 80% target (very possibly by the 2050 target date); while simultaneously transitioning to a low-carbon economy at a realistically achievable rate, and adapting to climate change impacts which are already inevitable as a result of damage done to the atmosphere to date. The geo-engineering technologies would be gradually reduced over time as mitigation policy takes effect. Alternatively, the carbon dioxide removal technologies could be maintained for a longer than needed period to reduce historic carbon dioxide already in the atmosphere.