Report suggests car industry will overshoot 2050 climate target by 75 per cent

Two electric carmakers, Polestar and Rivian, along with management consultant Kearney have collaborated on a report which suggests the car industry will overshoot the IPCC’s climate target by at least 75 per cent by 2050.

Public data was used to compile the report which states if no further action is done to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the planet will continue to warm past the 1.5 degrees celcius mark halfway through this century and ultimately lead to a “climate catastrophe”.

Considering cars currently emit approximately 5.5 gigatoones of CO2 per year, it means the car industry will have spent its 500 gigatonne CO2 budget by around 2035, 15 years short of its goal.

If it continues, it would overshoot the budget by 75 per cent.

Completely switching to electric cars overnight won’t be enough to slow emissions down either as most of the world’s electricity needed to power them is still produced by fossil fuels.

The report suggests the energy grid would need to increase its use of renewable energy like solar, hydro, and wind power, and it would need to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions during car manufacturing.

Both Polestar and Rivian are calling on all carmakers to accelerate the transition to EVs through manufacturing investment and by placing a firm end date on new fossil fuel car sales globally, increase renewable energy supply to electrical grids globally, and to decarbonise the manufacturing supply chains for EVs by switching to low carbon materials.

In essence, the car industry is in for a big shake up ahead of such a massive challenge if it wants to reduce its impact on global warming according to the two EV carmakers.