A team of Oslo scientists are pushing for a "carbon law" policy in order to cut by half the world's carbon dioxide emissions each decade starting 2020 to combat climate change.
This policy, similar to the carbon tax, requires the imposition of penalties on carbon emitters to fast-track the total shift toward renewable energies.
The proposed policy, published in the journal Science, is an instrument every country can use to implement the 2015 Paris agreement, where some 200 governments pledged to do away with fossil fuels in the next half-century. Little has been done, however, since the agreement was signed.
Cutting CO2 Emissions By Half
To achieve the goals of the 2015 Paris agreement, according to a team of scientists, the CO2 emissions must be halved in each decade, bringing it down from 40 million tons in 2020 to 20 million tons by 2030.
A hefty penalty of $50 for every ton will be charged against carbon dioxide emitters starting 2020. The European Union is currently charging 5 euros (around $5.40) per ton of CO2 emissions.
The authors said the proposed legislative and economic framework is needed "to make a zero-emissions future an inevitability rather than wishful thinking."
Christiana Figueres, former executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, agreed.
"I don't think it's wishful thinking. I think it's visionary thinking," Figueres said.
Pushing For Greener Technologies
China and the European Union are likely the leading countries to go ahead with cleaner technologies, Johan Rockstrom, the lead author of the study and director of the Stockholm Resilience Center at Stockholm University, said.
Rockstrom said the emergence of greener technologies will come despite President Donald Trump's denial that human activities cause climate change.
Trump has dismissed man-made climate change as a hoax. The U.S. president has even hinted that he will withdraw the country from the Paris agreement as he has a strong inclination to utilize fossil fuels during his term.
"We should not be too concerned with the risks of the negative impact of the Trump administration," Rockstrom said.
Doing away with fossils fuels, he said, would bring improved public health and optimum profits for businesses, among others.
The Trump Factor
This development comes as another Trump ally in the House has called for the reduction of the U.S. commitment in cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
In a letter addressed to Trump, Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-ND, outlined the conditions if the chief executive were to decide to stay in the agreement.
As a presidential candidate, Trump promised to withdraw from the Paris agreement. As a president, however, he has not acted yet on the pledge he made during the campaign. Some of his advisers have urged him to stay in the agreement for diplomatic reasons.
Cramer urged Trump to reduce the commitment of the United States in fighting climate change. The pledge, made during the Obama administration, involved cutting the country's emissions of greenhouse gas by 26-28 percent from 2005 levels.
"The [United States] should present a new pledge that does no harm to our economy," said Cramer in his letter.
He also urged Trump to stop contributing to the Green Climate Fund and make good of his position to promote domestic manufacturing and energy companies.
