No more petrol power! Fossil fuels “should be phased out by 2100”

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports unrestricted use of fossil fuels must be “phased out” by 2100 if the world is to avoid dangerous levels of climate change.

The report says reducing emissions is crucial if global warming is to be limited to 2 degrees Celsius; a target acknowledged in 2009 as the threshold of dangerous climate change. The report suggests renewable sources will have to grow from their current 30% share to 80% of the power sector by 2050. In the longer term, fossil fuel power generation would need to be “phased out almost entirely by 2100”.

The US Secretary of State, John Kerry, described the report as “another canary in the coal mine”, adding “Those who choose to ignore or dispute the science so clearly laid out in this report do so at great risk for all of us and for our kids and grandkids.”