THE IPCC STATE THE IMPOSSIBLE – ( FOR THE 1% ).
EMISSIONS Sharp cuts to short-lived climate pollutants, methane chief among them, could cut more than half a degree from global heating. Produced from oil and gas operations and coalmines, and from animal husbandry and natural sources – such as decaying vegetation – methane is a greenhouse gas about 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. But it lasts only for about 20 years before degrading into CO2.
DEFORESTATION Cutting down rainforests destroys some of the world’s biggest carbon sinks and risks taking the world to a “tipping point” at which vast forests such as the Amazon and the Congo become sources of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere instead of absorbing it. Forests grab the headlines, but many other aspects of natural ecosystems are vital absorbers of carbon, yet are being degraded.
RESTORING DEGRADED LAND. Restoring them would benefit nature and the climate. Wetlands and peatlands store vast quantities of carbon, but are under threat as they are drained for agriculture. In the oceans, mangrove swamps and seagrass meadows – which store carbon and can help to reduce the impacts of rising sea levels and storms – have been destroyed.
COMPLETE CHANGE TO DIETS. Feeding the world’s future population using current food systems will be impossible, but shifting to a more sustainable diet that is rich in plants and short on meat and dairy products would go a long way.
RENEWABLES. Renewable energy in the form of wind and solar power is now cheaper than fossil fuels across most of the world and the IPCC found that solar power, wind power and reducing the conversion of land to agriculture were the three measures with the strongest potential for reducing greenhouse gas emissions globally.
TRANSPORT Transport is also ripe for change. More efficient public transport systems around the world would benefit people, boost the economy, reduce air pollution and cut greenhouse gas emissions, but in too many urban centres this is an area severely neglected by governments.
ELIMINATING FOSSIL FUELS. Switching from coal to gas-fired power would reduce greenhouse gas emissions globally by more than making all buildings energy efficient. But many governments – including China, which recently approved the biggest expansion of coal-fired power plants since 2015, as well as India and Australia – are deeply entwined with coal interests, and have seen coal as essential to national energy security.
MAKING CLIMATE NUMERO UNO. The IPCC issued a plea on Monday for the climate to be at the heart of all government policy, and all decision-making in business.
Only by “mainstreaming” climate action, into the decisions of all government departments, and at board level in business, can we hope to make the many changes needed. Sadly we all know the present world economical structure will talk the talk but will not walk the walk. Not until New York, London, Shanghai, Singapore or other rich cities go under water will these 8 demands be met but then of course it is all too late.
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Thanks for that Mercedes, we are trying to highlight the real problems the world faces and its mainly the avoidance of the 1% to change their basic concept of greed above all.
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