IPCC WG3 response: Chemistry and its role in mitigating climate change

Professor Tom Welton, President of the Royal Society of Chemistry, said: “The IPCC has set out that we simply must act now to keep to 1.5°C warming. The report is clear in saying we must speed up the transition from using fossil fuel in our cities, homes and transport to renewable and zero carbon sources of energy. We support its message that we must not wait for some future technological miracle when we already have an effective array of solutions at hand. Chemistry is central to enabling us to produce and store renewable energy and consume resources sustainably.

“For example, the report identifies how electric vehicles offer the biggest carbon savings for land-based transport – the authors also point to the health benefits of this transition. Battery innovations have sparked large-scale cost reductions of 85% in the last decade, and our chemical science community will be at the forefront of further advances. These cost reductions have been stimulated by public funding for research and development, and we must continue on this path. However, the authors also note that a transition to large-scale battery storage must be carefully managed to reduce risks of environmental harm.

“All of these technologies rely on critical minerals which must be mined. Circular economies are needed to ensure a future for the scarce elements we already rely on a daily basis. Chemical sciences can reduce the harm of mining and also help us to recover these elements from waste for re-use. Decarbonising energy production can and must go hand-in-hand with implementing circular economies.”