Climate change mitigation measures can’t wait for countries’ extremely slow political decision-making process
Post Date – 12:30 AM, Saturday – 12/31/22
Climate change mitigation measures can’t wait for countries’ extremely slow political decision-making process
As the “blizzard of the century” swept across swathes of the northeastern coast of the United States and Canada, killing many and disrupting normal life, it underscored the magnitude of the climate crisis and the urgency of global efforts to save the planet. Planet in disaster. Extreme weather events are directly linked to global warming, the result of unbridled greenhouse gas emissions. More than 150 million people in the United States borne the brunt of the storm, wreaking havoc on vacationers and causing power outages. This extreme winter is also a reminder that no matter how technologically advanced a nation is, it cannot overcome the wrath of nature. This is a life-or-death situation, as climate mitigation measures cannot wait for the extremely slow political decision-making process in countries that have so far failed to keep pace with rapidly increasing global emissions. While international climate summits regularly set certain goals to address the climate crisis, countries have yet to reach consensus on issues such as climate financing and loss and damage estimates. However, the urgent need to protect vulnerable populations cannot be overemphasized. Greenhouse gas emissions are still increasing. The world has already warmed by more than 1.1 degrees Celsius. According to the World Meteorological Organization, global temperatures could be about 1.15 degrees Celsius warmer by 2022 than in pre-industrial times. The global failure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in a timely manner raises dire scenarios.
As warming above pre-industrial levels has had an impact, the largest emitters in history have had to bear responsibility for irreparable damage. Rich countries have failed to deliver on promises to compensate poor and vulnerable countries and transfer modern technology to tackle the climate crisis. They owe a carbon debt to developing countries, which are still struggling to meet their development goals while also having to grapple with decarbonization efforts. The recent global climate summit (COP27) in Egypt acknowledged that global greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced by at least 43% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels if global temperatures are to be kept below 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to the pre-industrial era to be alive. The report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also suggests that the question is not whether the 1.5C mark will be breached in the near future, but whether the world will do enough to pull itself back from there in a few years time . The number of global climate or weather-related disasters increased nearly fivefold from 711 in the decade 1970-79 to 3,165 in the period 2010-2019. Because of the increased frequency of disasters, economic losses have multiplied—from about $175 billion in the 1970s to nearly $1.4 trillion in the 2010s.
