Misleading narrative hampering scaling of clean energy, Chinese expert says

A misleading narrative of overcapacity in renewables is creating man-made barriers to scaling the clean energy needed to limit global warming to 1.5 C.

Breaking this misconception requires redefining climate benefits to include the economic gains of new industrial growth, not just the damages avoided.

Zhang Yongsheng, director of the Research Institute for Eco-civilization at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, made the remarks in an event held on the sidelines of the ongoing annual United Nations climate change conference in Belem, Brazil, on Monday.

The event was themed the Net-Zero Emission Transition Led by Global Green Actions.

The world is drastically off track to achieve 1.5 C target, said Zhang, quoting multiple sources, including the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the UN body that assesses the science related to climate change.

The landmark 2015 Paris Agreement aims to keep global temperature rise this century below 2 C above pre-industrial levels, while pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 C. Scientists increasingly agree that keeping global warming under 1.5 C is essential to avoid severe and catastrophic impacts.

Zhang noted an enormous action deficit that is putting the 1.5 C target in jeopardy.

Even if all countries meet their current climate action pledges, which are formerly known as Nationally Determined Contributions, the world is still headed for a world warmer than 2 C.