THIS POST IS A PRESENTATON OF RENEWABLE ENERGY STATISTICS PROVIDED BY IRENA: LINK: https://irena.org/-/media/Files/IRENA/Agency/Publication/2020/Mar/IRENA_RE_Capacity_Statistics_2020.pdf

RENEWABLE ENERGY IS DEFINED BY IRENA AS PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING OTHER THAN FOSSIL FUELS. THE SOURCES LISTED ARE: SOLAR, WIND, HYDROPOWER, GEOTHERMAL, BIOENERGY, AND TIDAL. THE DATA PROVIDED ARE THE “CAPACITY”, THAT IS TO SAY NOT WHAT WAS DELIVERED, NOT EVEN WHAT WAS GENERATED, BUT WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN GENERATED FROM THE EQUIPMENT THAT HAD BEEN INSTALLED.

ABSTRACT: NATIONAL LEVEL CLIMATE ACTION PLANS, NET ZERO EMISSION REDUCTION TARGETS, AND NATIONAL LEVEL CLIMATE ACTION PLANS WITH A NET ZERO EMISSION REDUCTION TARGET ARE FATALLY FLAWED AND THEY DO NOT CONTAIN USEFUL INFORMATION ABOUT CLIMATE ACTION. OVER THE LAST DECADE INTENSIVE NATIONAL LEVEL CLIMATE ACTION BY THE ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY NATIONS SUCH AS GREAT BRITAIN, THE EUROPEAN UNION, AND AUSTRALIA, AT GREAT COST AND SUFFERING BY THEIR CITIZENS, HELPED ALONG BY THE COVID PANDEMIC IMPLIES, IN ACCORDANCE WITH CLIMATE SCIENCE AND THE CALL FOR CLIMATE ACTION BY CLIMATE SCIENCE, THAT THE RATE OF INCREASE IN ATMOSPHERIC CO2 AND THE RATE OF GLOBAL WARMING SHOULD HAVE BEEN REDUCED. BUT NO SUCH IMPACT ON EITHER OF THESE KEY AGW VARIABLES IS FOUND IN THE DATA. A SPECIFIC IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC WAS THE REDUCTION IN GLOBAL AIRLINE TRAFFIC FROM 39 MILLION FLIGHTS PER YEAR TO 16 MILLION FLIGHTS PER YEAR. THROUGH ALL THIS CLIMATE ACTION AND THE PANDEMIC’S IMPACT ON ECONOMIC ACTIVITY WORLDWIDE, ATMOSPHERIC CO2 AND GLOBAL MEAN TEMPERATURE CONTINUED TO RISE AT THE SAME RATE AS THEY HAD WITHOUT ANY INDICATION OF AN EFFECT EITHER BY CLIMATE ACTION OR BY THE PANDEMIC. THESE DATA IMPLY THAT THERE IS NO CLIMATE ACTION INTERPRETATION FOR NATIONAL LEVEL EMISSION REDUCTION PLANS AND THERE IS NO CLIMATE ACTION INTERPRETATION FOR NET ZERO CLIMATE ACTION PLANS.

THE DATA FOR GLOBAL CAPACITY 2010 TO 2019 ARE AS FOLLOWS:

World Total Renewable Energy Capacity: 2010 to 2019 are: 2010=1,226,853, 2011=1,332,236, 2012= 1,445,233, 2013= 1,563,196, 2014= 1,692,680, 2015= 1,846,060, 2016=2,008,547, 2017=2,182,449, 2018=2,361,061, 2019=2,536,853.

World Total Fossil Fuel Emissions are Provided as Gigatonnes per year of CO2: 2009=32.0905, 2010=33.971.15, 2011=35034.77, 2012=35487.48, 2013=35905.82, 2014=36244.49, 2015=36247.49, 2016=36299.70, 2017=36794.62, 2018=37668.11, 2019=38016.57

GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF THE DATA

TOTAL INVESTMENT IN RENEWABLE ENERGY IN THIS PERIOD EXCEEDED $2.5 TRILLION:

LINK TO SOURCE: https://sdg.iisd.org/news/renewable-energy-investment-to-surpass-usd-2-5-trillion-for-2010-2019-unep-report-finds

FINDING: OVER THE DECADE 2009 TO 2019 MORE THAN $2.5 TRILLION WAS INVESTED IN RENEWABLE ENERGY WORLDWIDE. THIS IMPLEMENTATION WAS REQUIRED BY THE CLIMATE SCIENCE CLAIM THAT INVESTMENT IN RENEWABLE ENERGY IS REQUIRED TO REDUCE FOSSIL FUEL EMISSIONS AS A WAY OF ATTENUATING GLOBAL WARMING. YET WHAT WE SEE IN THE DATA IS THAT THE INVESTMENT IN RENEWABLE ENERGY DID NOT REDUCE FOSSIL FUEL EMISSIONS. IN FACT THERE WAS A GRADUAL INCREASE IN FOSSIL FUEL EMISSIONS.

ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS: IN A RELATED POST WE PRESENT THE ECONOMICS ARGUMENT THAT CLIMATE ACTION INITIATIVES THAT ARE NOT A GLOBALLY COORDINATED EFFORT AS IN THE MONTREAL PROTOCOL BUT CARRIED OUT AT THE NATION STATE LEVEL WILL NOT REDUCE GLOBAL FOSSIL FUEL EMISSIONS BECAUSE OF THE ECONOMIC DISADVANTAGE BORNE BY THE CLIMATE ACTION TAKING NATION WILL CEDE AN ECONOMIC ADVANTAGE TO NON-CLIMATE ACTION TAKING NATIONS. WE SHOW IN THAT RELATED POST THAT THIS ANOMALY ENSURES THAT CLIMATE ACTION INITIATIVES AT THE NATION STATE LEVEL WILL NOT LOWER FOSSIL FUEL EMISSIONS. LINK TO RELATED POST: https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/05/22/climate-catch22/

THE DATA AND DATA ANALYSIS PRESENTED HERE PROVIDE EMPIRICAL SUPPORT FOR THE ECONOMICS ARGUMENT PRESENTED IN THE RELATED POST LINKED ABOVE. CLIMATE ACTION CAN ONLY WORK IF IT IS A GLOBALLY COORDINATED EFFORT. THERE IS NO OPPORTUNITY HERE FOR CLIMATE HEROISM OR BRAVADO AT THE NATION STATE LEVEL. IT’S GLOBAL OR NOTHING.

WE ARE IN THIS STATE OF AFFAIRS BECAUSE THE UNITED NATIONS, THAT WAS EXPECTED TO REPEAT THEIR MONTREAL PROTOCOL SUCCESS IN THE CLIMATE ISSUE WITH A GLOBAL CLIMATE ACTION COMPACT, HAS FAILED TO PUT TOGETHER SUCH A CONTRACT AND HAS CALLED FOR CLIMATE HEROISM AT THE NATION STATE LEVEL. THIS STRATEGY CANNOT AND WILL NOT REDUCE GLOBAL FOSSIL FUEL EMISSIONS

AS EXPLAINED IN THIS RELATED POST: LINK#1: https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/05/22/climate-catch22/ .

YET ANOTHER FLAW IN NATIONAL CLIMATE ACTION PLANS IS THE RELIANCE ON A TARGETS OF NET ZERO BECAUSE NET ZERO TARGETS ARE A CORRUPTION OF THE GOAL FOR ZERO FOSSIL FUEL EMISSIONS DEMANDED BY CLIMATE SCIENCE. THE NET ZERO TARGET IS FLAWED IN MANY WAYS

AS EXPLAINED IN THIS RELATED POST: https://tambonthongchai.com/2020/02/25/net-zero/

CONCLUSION: NATIONAL LEVEL CLIMATE ACTION PLANS, NET ZERO EMISSION REDUCTION TARGETS, AND NATIONAL LEVEL CLIMATE ACTION PLANS WITH A NET ZERO EMISSION REDUCTION TARGET ARE FATALLY FLAWED AND THEY DO NOT CONTAIN USEFUL INFORMATION ABOUT CLIMATE ACTION.

OVER THE LAST DECADE INTENSIVE NATIONAL LEVEL CLIMATE ACTION BY THE ADVANCED INDUSTRIAL ECONOMY NATIONS SUCH AS GREAT BRITAIN, THE EUROPEAN UNION, AND AUSTRALIA, AT GREAT COST AND SUFFERING BY THEIR CITIZENS, HELPED ALONG BY THE COVID PANDEMIC IMPLIES, IN ACCORDANCE WITH CLIMATE SCIENCE AND THE CALL FOR CLIMATE ACTION BY CLIMATE SCIENCE, THAT THE RATE OF INCREASE IN ATMOSPHERIC CO2 AND THE RATE OF GLOBAL WARMING SHOULD HAVE BEEN REDUCED. BUT NO SUCH IMPACT ON EITHER OF THESE KEY AGW VARIABLES IS FOUND IN THE DATA.

A SPECIFIC IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC WAS THE REDUCTION IN GLOBAL AIRLINE TRAFFIC FROM 39 MILLION FLIGHTS PER YEAR TO 16 MILLION FLIGHTS PER YEAR.

THROUGH ALL THIS CLIMATE ACTION AND THE PANDEMIC’S IMPACT ON ECONOMIC ACTIVITY WORLDWIDE, ATMOSPHERIC CO2 AND GLOBAL MEAN TEMPERATURE CONTINUED TO RISE AT THE SAME RATE AS THEY HAD WITHOUT ANY INDICATION OF AN EFFECT EITHER BY CLIMATE ACTION OR BY THE PANDEMIC.

THESE DATA IMPLY THAT THERE IS NO CLIMATE ACTION INTERPRETATION FOR NATIONAL LEVEL EMISSION REDUCTION PLANS AND THERE IS NO CLIMATE ACTION INTERPRETATION FOR NET ZERO CLIMATE ACTION PLANS.

YET WHAT WE FIND IN THE DATA IS THAT THESE ARE THE ONLY CLIMATE ACTION MODES EMPLOYED.

POSTSCRIPT: LIST OF NATIONS WITH LEGISLATED AND ACTIVE NET ZERO PROGRAMS AND TARGET DATES FOR NET ZERO.

Sweden START YEAR=2017 : TARGET NET ZERO YEAR=2045

United Kingdom START YEAR=2019: TARGET NET ZERO YEAR=2050

France – 2050 START YEAR=2019: TARGET NET ZERO YEAR=2050

Denmark START YEAR=2019: TARGET NET ZERO YEAR=2050

New Zealand START YEAR=2019: TARGET NET ZERO YEAR= 2050

Hungary START YEAR=2020, TARGET NET ZERO YEAR=2050

Japan START YEAR=2020: TARGET NET ZERO YEAR= 2050

South Korea START YEAR 2020: TARGET NET ZERO YEAR=2050
Two days after Japan’s net-zero commitment, South Korean President Moon Jae-in pledged that his country will also reach carbon-neutrality by 2050 during a speech to the national assembly in October 2020.

RESULT OF THESE ACTIONS: MARCH 2021: CONTINUED RISE IN GLOBAL FOSSIL FUEL EMISSIONS AND UNABATED RISE IN ATMOSPHERIC CO2 CONCENTRATION AND GLOBAL MEAN SURFACE TEMPERATURE