To meet the Paris Agreement goals, CO2 emissions in industrial countries must decrease over the long-term. GEOG research professor Dr. Kuishuang was invited to write a News and Views article to discuss a new research published in Nature Climate Change. The new research shows that an increase in the share of renewable energy and a decrease in energy use have contributed to emissions reductions in industrial countries, but enhanced policies are needed to decouple economic growth from emissions.
Dr. Feng emphasized that well-designed energy and climate policies can decouple economic growth from emissions increases, with emissions peaking and even beginning to drop as economies continue to grow. A framework of strong and supportive climate policies is needed to integrate and coordinate physical driving factors and energy policies to achieve global deep decarbonization of the energy system.
