TITLE:
The Challenge of Changing to a Low-Carbon Economy: A Brief Overview
AUTHORS:
Jorge F. Carrasco
KEYWORDS:
Climate Change; Carbon Dioxide; Low-Carbon Economy; 2°C Target
JOURNAL NAME:
Low Carbon Economy,
Vol.5 No.1,
March
7,
2014
ABSTRACT: Climate change alters all sustainable development dimensions for a given nation or region, there- fore, decreasing emission of GHG not only is an environmental issue, but also has implication on the economic, social and political matters. In 2009, the Copenhagen Accord adopted the 2°C global warming increase limit as an international policy, being this threshold of the maximum allowable warming to avoid dangerous and irreversible anthropogenic interference in the climate system. The observed monthly average CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere crossed the 400 parts per million thresholds, for the first time in April and May 2013. The energy sector is the single largest source of climate changing GHG emissions, and therefore moving from fossil fuel to clean energy production should be a priority challenge for all countries. For that, it is necessary to develop a low carbon economy for confronting the climate change.