The world needs a clearer way to measure the carbon emissions of businesses to understand whether government action is working, experts said.
The UK’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance and the Met Office’s chief scientist Professor Stephen Belcher said in a letter published in The Times that we need “an objective system” to “use modelling to infer emissions in near real time”.
READ: UN climate warning: investment industry needs to do more to help halt global warming
In this way, it would be easier to take action if the current policy is not working.
“As fossil fuel use decreases over the next decade or two, an enhanced system will need to assess accurately emissions from other sources. This direct measurement is achievable, and a pilot system is being trialled in the UK, and should be pursued now,” they wrote.
At the moment, emissions are calculated using estimates of fuel use, farming practices and other activities, which are then added to emissions from sectors, such as transport, agriculture and other industries, and then into national contributions.
The proposed “live dashboard” would also help figure out the role of carbon emissions in extreme weather events, although it has already been demonstrated that the recent ones are man-made.
As the two scientists noted, “the record heatwave in North America has been shown to be virtually impossible without climate change”.
This isn't getting enough attention quite yet: For the first time, the @IPCC_CH has published an interactive climate atlas where you can explore your region's potential climate future. It's not comforting, but is impressive work. https://t.co/KgmwmXJV0c
— Andrew Freedman (@afreedma) August 9, 2021
The letter comes a day after a stark warning by the United Nations climate change committee, which published a report showing that our planet will get 1.5°C warmer much quicker than previously predicted.
World leaders previously agreed to fight to keep warming from reaching 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels to avoid worsening impacts on the planet, in what is known as the Paris Agreement.
Representatives of various countries will meet again this November in Glasgow to review progress and set new targets.