Status: Published
Citation: Ou, Y., Roney, C., Alsalam, J. et al. Deep mitigation of CO2 and non-CO2 greenhouse gases toward 1.5°C and 2°C futures. Nat Commun **12,**6245 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26509-z
Understanding the role of non-CO2 greenhouse gas reductions in the pace and timing of net-zero CO2 targets is important to effective mitigation planning. The article illustrates how variations in approaches to non-CO2 gases can change the required timing of net-zero CO2 for a given temperature by up to two decades and even affect the feasibility of achieving 1.5 degrees. The article examines 90 global mitigation scenarios for their effects on emissions, radiative forcing, and temperature and discusses the implications of joint CO2 and non-CO2 reductions. Targeted efforts to reduce methane and fluorinated gases from key end-use services may be paired with the co-benefits of decarbonization to limit overall non-CO2 emissions from fuel extraction and end use, relaxing CO2 reduction requirements for a given target temperature.
Link to Journal Publication: Deep mitigation of CO2 and non-CO2 greenhouse gases toward 1.5 °C and 2 °C futures | Nature Communications