I don’t think I did enough justice to the subject in my last post. I realized, previous post was not substantial in its truest sense. Paris Climate Change Agreement has been chronicled as one of the biggest commitment and pledge on an international level. And, I passed a judgement in my previous post without rendering any solution. Hence, we shall talk some more about the same as we are responsible citizens of our respective countries. Climate change affects us all equally, so let’s just all come together and work hard to make it sustainable for our healthier selves as well as future generations to come. Following are the products of my mind wobbling for two days straight. We can call it “Action Plan.”
- In order for the Paris Agreement to keep the warming of the world below the 1.5 degree Celsius target governments must commit to reducing CO2 emissions “in accordance with best available science.”
- They must commit to halt the burning of fossil fuels, which have already formed a toxic “blanket” around the earth – they must “leave it in the ground.” They must embark upon a renewable energy revolution now. Transition must occur from fossil fuels to renewables. The transition to renewable energy is urgent and necessary; and it is already bringing great economic benefit across the world. Renewables will produce more power than coal within 15 years.
- If solar’s current rate of growth continues, its output could match world power demand in just 18 years’ time. Big banks are investing heavily in solar. Thus, we can expect solar get bigger in times to come.
- Oil and gas are currently the cheapest they have been for many years and this is a dangerous incentive for energy corporations.
- A critical point is that while the world’s governments have signed on the dotted line, the world’s companies have not. As long as fossil fuel energy is cheaper than renewables, oil gas and coal will be dispensed by the energy companies and burned by us all in vast quantities.
- Extreme weather events: There have been 6,457 floods, storms, heat waves, droughts and other weather-related disasters, claiming the lives of 606,000 people, an average of some 30,000 per year, with an additional 4.1 billion people injured, left homeless or in need of emergency assistance.This is the acceleration of the climate crisis.
- In order to preserve the planet and combat climate change, we must preserve the forests – between now and 2020 alone.
- We must also restore degraded and deforested land to purpose. There are 2 billion hectares of degraded and deforested land across the world with potential for restoration. Restoration of degraded and deforested lands is not simply about planting trees.
- Restored land can be put to a mosaic of uses such as agriculture, protected wildlife reserves, ecological corridors, regenerated forests, managed plantations, agroforestry systems and river or lakeside plantings to protect waterways.
- Aboriginal peoples outperform every other owner, public or private entities on forest conservation.
- It has long been established that women are disproportionately affected by climate change, especially in poorer countries. They are often most responsible for food production, household water supply and energy for heating and cooking – activities which will be seriously impacted by climate change. Yet women are often underrepresented or excluded from decision-making.
- We cannot combat climate change without involving all stakeholders, including women and indigenous people, and their rights should have been at the heart of the Paris Agreement.
- The Agreement provides $100 bn in financing to compensate poorer countries’ for ‘loss and damage,’ mitigation and adaptation. But this is a drop in the ocean, to put it mildly. Much more financing is needed to ensure that low lying and developing countries don’t pay the price for decades of reckless gas guzzling, coal burning and emissions by the richest countries.
To hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels” is a mockery. Much as I applaud the historic diplomatic achievements the agreement represents, the treaty contains fatal flaws that threaten us and the planet. This is the most important treaty the world has ever known; world leaders should have come away with an agreement that is bold and ambitious enough to save us from climate catastrophe. As the climate demonstrators at COP21 called out, as they assembled peacefully in the conference halls and Paris streets, as was written large on the signs they carried aloft: it is “1.5 to stay alive.”
