Fact File: The Climate Challenge

Which three thing actions have made the most difference to cutting carbon emissions?

The answer may surprise you.

This graphic from the Economist newspaper’s guide to actions that have done the most to slow climate change shows that greenhouse gas mitigation is about much more than expanding renewable energy provision. The article assembles a wide range of contributing factors – and makes various important caveats around certain factors – but the results are thought-provoking.

And what about Germany’s push for renewables? One estimate suggests that by 2020, Germany will have produced an extra 300 million tonnes of CO2 as a result of its nuclear closure: equivalent to almost all the savings that will be made in the 27 member states as a result of the EU’s energy efficiency directive. Source: George Monbiot