New Study Warns That Nearly Half of Fossil Fuel Production Sites Need to Be Closed to Avoid a Climate Disaster

Study Highlights That Countries Should Cut Fossil Fuel Sources To Avoid A Global Environmental Catastrophe

With climate change, a large part of the world’s countries have started working to zero out carbon emissions. One of the goals is to drastically reduce the use of fossil fuels. Since they are not renewable sources, fossil fuels have become the villains and a significant threat to the climate of the planet.

Unlike renewable sources, the recomposition of fossil fuels in nature occurs very slowly. Today, the main fossil fuels are oil, natural gas, and coal.

Some studies indicate that, in addition to not building any more fossil fuel infrastructure, the goal of keeping global warming below the 1.5°C threshold can only be achieved by closing approximately half of all existing fossil fuel infrastructures in the world.

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Greeg Muttitt from the International Institute for Sustainable Development warned that such an ambitious goal will not be achieved without significant changes. “Governments need to start facing how to do this in a fair and equitable manner, which will require overcoming the opposition from fossil fuel interests. Our findings show that halting new extraction projects is a necessary step, but still not enough to stay within our increasingly limited carbon budget. Some existing fossil fuel licenses and production will need to be revoked and phased out sooner,” he said.

The survey considered 25,000 oil and gas fields around the world. The study highlights that about 40% of all gas and oil reserves found in these locations should remain untouched to avoid a global environmental catastrophe. “The moment demands considerations of equity and better mechanisms to manage a just transition from fossil fuel jobs and revenues within and among countries,” the study states without specifying which sites should be closed.

Ukraine x Russia Increases Demand for Fossil Fuels

The conflict involving Russia and Ukraine is making things even worse. As months go by and the conflict between the two countries escalates, the demand for fossil fuels also rises, further exacerbating the environmental crisis our planet is facing.

“The world has already extracted too much oil, gas, and coal. Developing more could lead to more dangerous levels of warming if fully extracted, or create a larger scale of stranded assets,” explained Greeg.

However, other technologies are being developed for the planet. One major example is the irreversible wave of electric cars around the world. With these cars, the need for fossil fuels to power a vehicle will decrease considerably.