By the Global Heat Reduction Initiative

Today’s unending procession of heat waves and other climate-driven calamities makes it clear: the climate crisis is undeniably here. If we want to limit the worst consequences, we must take decisive action now. Hidden inside this growing emergency is an extraordinary opportunity. We can significantly accelerate the fight against climate change, and the energy sector has a crucial role to play. Starting today, we can deploy existing science and practical technologies that will rapidly and measurably reduce excess heat in our atmosphere and, in most cases, also save money.

Above: Global heat reduction: watch this two-minute explainer with Duke professor and leading IPCC scientist Dr. Drew Shindell.

To seize this opportunity, we must understand that roughly half of global warming is not caused by carbon dioxide but by climate super pollutants including methane, black carbon, tropospheric ozone, and nitrous oxide. Although climate super pollutants can be many thousands of times stronger than CO₂ as drivers of global warming, many also dissipate from the atmosphere fast. If we slash our emissions quickly and on a global scale, we’ll see results in the short term. While we must get to net zero on CO₂ to stabilize our climate in the long term, cutting super pollutants now will start reducing atmospheric heat immediately, help us avoid irreversible climate tipping points, blunt the impact of ever more costly climate disasters, and build a bridge to net zero by mid-century.

SCS Global Services recently launched the Global Heat Reduction Initiative (GHR). Based on more than a decade of peer-reviewed scientific work, GHR offers a new climate accounting standard that adds climate super pollutants and all other global warming drivers to the ledger. In contrast to conventional methods, we also assess these drivers’ heat impacts at full strength, and over any time frame, including the crucial next two decades. For example, black carbon (soot) stays aloft for just a few days but in that time is up to 52,000x more potent than CO₂. Regional results may vary depending on climate and geography, but a reduction of black carbon emissions by a single ton in 2024 would yield about 6.6 more heat reduction by 2030 than 1,000 tons of avoided CO₂ emissions.

This comprehensive inventory is a treasure trove of data that decisionmakers can use to create the most cost-effective climate strategies. For the energy sector, this might mean determining the full impact of capping orphaned gas wells, switching to renewable energy, or even moving from coal or oil to cleaner burning (renewable) natural gas. For the first time, it is possible to determine not just emissions reductions but also what they mean in terms of actual avoided heat. Moreover, some climate actions in the energy sector are not getting full credit for their heat reduction impact. Any time you lower your fossil fuel use, you also lower emissions of black carbon and the precursors of tropospheric ozone. Conventional carbon accounting does not account for these super pollutants’ heat impacts, and even small emissions reductions can have big benefits.

Of course, not all emissions can currently be avoided and some must be offset. That’s why, in addition to offering the most comprehensive climate footprint on the market, GHR has also launched the Global Heat Reduction Registry to orient climate finance resources toward mitigation projects that reduce super pollutant emissions that will reduce near-term heat.

The technologies are there. GHR’s goal is to mobilize capital to scale them up. Cleaner-burning brick kilns use less coal and therefore emit less black carbon. Methane-producing animal waste can be converted into renewable biogas through anaerobic digestion or microbes. Abandoned oil wells leaking methane can be plugged with existing technologies. Bottom line: this moment of mounting crisis is also one of great opportunity. Effective ways to bend the trendline on climate are within reach.

Learn more about the Global Heat Reduction Initiative at heatreduction.com.