Analysis of Current Trends of Decarbonization and Ecomodernization оf Energy of Ukraine and the World

Abstract

Decarbonization is clearly not a matter of fashion, but an acute problem of human survival. Global climate change is the most epoch-making challenge facing humanity in the long run and requires immediate action. Climate change is one of the main issues of environmental security. A more accurate definition of decarbonization is a set of measures, methods and technologies that aim to limit the rate of global warming. They are based on: 1 — limiting the extraction and use of carbon-containing raw materials and 2 — reducing greenhouse gas emissions (primarily CO₂ and H₂O vapors) into the atmosphere. According to the Paris Agreement (2015), Ukraine has committed itself to reducing the level of greenhouse gases by 40 % (and, according to updated data, 55 %) by 2030 compared to the pre-industrial level (1990). However, the great path to the complete decarbonisation of the country is just beginning. Decarbonization of energy and the economy as a whole is the way to save humanity and ecosystems. Mankind has set itself this task by 2050. Otherwise, a climate catastrophe cannot be avoided. At the same time, the last decades have become the warmest in the history of mankind. The area of Arctic ice is shrinking. An increase in atmospheric temperature of approximately 2 ºC corresponds to an increase in sea level by 6 meters or more. Catastrophic fires, floods, droughts, hurricanes, tsunamis have become the norm. Biodiversity is declining (before 1950—60, one species of animal or plant disappeared from the Earth per year, and today — one or more species — per day, i.e., at least, this rate of extinction has increased 365 times). The oceans heat up and suffocate from oil and plastic waste. And this environmentally threatening list, unfortunately, can be continued. Thus, humanity has no choice but to choose a carbon-free path of development, i.e. there is no alternative to decarbonization and eco-modernization of the economy.