Harness the wind to tackle climate change
EWEA Climate change briefing for the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen
Wind power fights climate change. It is an abundant energy resource. Wind energy is a real alternative to emission producing fossil fuels and, crucially, can be deployed and begin reducing CO2 emissions immediately. Wind energy is already fighting climate change: in 2008, wind power in the EU avoided the emission of 91 million tonnes (Mt) of CO2.
Wanted: ambitious climate agreement in Copenhagen
- Because without a global solution, temperatures will rise above 2°C, and climate change will overwhelm human civilisation. When?
- By 2020, we need a target consistent with the range of 25%- 40% identified by the IPCC to give us a 50% chance of avoiding the 2°C temperature rise.
- By 2050, anything below an 80%-90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions falls short of recent scientific evidence.