DNV has published its Pathway to Net Zero Emissions report as a companion to the Energy Transition Outlook, as the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 28) approaches.
The report presents DNV’s most feasible route to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 and limiting global warming to 1.5°C. According to DNV, we will need to remove 6 gigatons (Gt) of emissions per year between 2050 and 2100 to achieve the 1.5°C goal.
This is high risk and depends on scaling unproven technologies like direct air capture and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, but no plausible pathway to net zero exists without removing CO2 from the atmosphere.
Regions must reach net zero ten years earlier – and some way before 2050
To reach global net zero in 2050, high-income regions and leading demand sectors must move further and faster. All regions must achieve their net zero targets almost ten years earlier than stated ambitions.
… said Remi Eriksen,Group President and CEO, DNV
Furthermore, according to DNV, every region needs to do more and act faster. Although every region needs to exceed their current ambitions and meet these, different timelines will apply. DNV’s Pathway to Net Zero Emissions is built upon the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)’s principle, stating a joint but distinct responsibility for achieving net zero.
GDP per capita is the main driver for the emissions path towards 2050. All regions must achieve their net zero targets much earlier than currently planned: OECD before 2045, Greater China before 2050 and the rest of the world before 2060, DNV notes.
Finally, sectors and industries will also decarbonize along differing timelines, with the power sector being a first mover reaching net zero in 2043, DNV concludes.
