April 27 2021 New research shows that climate change has reached a “moment of survival” and that in order to avoid disaster, countries around the world must achieve “net zero” emissions in less than 30 years, according to a recent article published in the British Journal of Science.
In November 2021, the Glasgow Climate Conference will be held, which UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said was a key milestone in the world’s efforts to avert a climate catastrophe. Foreign media analysis said that the issue of climate change may have a major turning point.
Climate change is at an end in life, research shows
On April 21st the website of The New Scientist published an article entitled “Climate Emergency: New Scientific Research Shows the Moment of Survival”.
The article points out that the world has made some progress in reducing carbon emissions that contribute to climate change, but that is not enough. New research suggests that the effects of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere may be greater than previously feared.
“Scientific indications are that more urgent climate action is needed,” said Stephen Ramstov, a climate scientist at the University of Potsdam in Germany. ”
To have a chance to avoid disaster, people must achieve “net zero” emissions in less than 30 years, i.e. carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere are not faster than the Earth’s natural absorption process, or faster than future development technologies to eliminate carbon dioxide.
UN: Climate action is not strong enough
“We need a green planet, but the world is on red alert,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at a recent leaders’ climate summit. Several countries, including the leaders of China and the United States, called on the international community to strengthen climate cooperation.
In February 2021, Guterres said the world had taken a lot of action in the past year to address change. But that is not enough to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius this century.
He stressed that the global alliance of net zero emissions needed to grow exponentially, which was the central goal of the United Nations in 2021. The driver of net zero emissions must become the new normal for everyone in every country, company, city and financial institution, as well as in key sectors such as aviation, water transport, industry and agriculture.
The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Global Climate 2020 report, released in April, says 2020 remains one of the three hottest years on record.
Global concentrations of major greenhouse gases continue to rise in 2019 and 2020. In addition, the global average sea level will continue to rise in 2020, in part because of the increasing melting of ice from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.
Will climate issues take a big turn in 2021?
The BBC previously reported that climate issues are one of the world’s major issues in 2021 and that significant progress is likely for five reasons:
The crucial climate conference
In 2021, world leaders will gather in Glasgow, Scotland, for the second UN climate summit. The 2015 Global Climate Summit in Paris was an important milestone in humanity’s joint response to the climate crisis.
The Paris Agreement proposes that the parties strengthen their global response to the threat of climate change, keep the average global temperature within 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and work to keep warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The carbon reduction targets promised by countries at the time were far from being met. As things stand, temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius will rise by up to 12 years, and by the end of the century, by 3 degrees Celsius.
Many countries have pledged to increase carbon reduction efforts and magnitude
In June 2019, the UK was the first industrialised country to announce a legally binding commitment aimed at zero net greenhouse gas emissions. The EU followed suit with a similar commitment in March 2020.
Subsequently, Japan and South Korea joined in achieving “zero emissions” by the middle of the century. The United Nations estimates that there are now more than 110 countries in this camp.
The BBC says what these countries need to do now is come up with concrete action plans, which will be a big issue at the Glasgow summit.
Renewable energy is cheaper than ever before
There is an important reason why so many countries have set zero-emission targets one after another. That is, the scale of the reduction in the price of renewable energy has completely rewritten the way carbon emissions are calculated.
In October 2020, the International Energy Agency, an intergovernmental organization, concluded that the current top solar power system was “the cheapest power supply in history”. New power stations are built in most parts of the world, and renewable energy generation is often cheaper than fossil fuels.
The Coronavirus pandemic changed everything
The Coronavirus outbreak is a reminder that it is entirely possible for the world to be “subverted” in a way that is beyond human control.
Global interest rates fluctuate around zero and even into negative territory. As a result, the cost of the government’s stimulus package has been unprecedentedly low, creating an unprecedented opportunity to rebuild “except for the old and the new”.
The business community is moving closer to the green
The business community has also begun to shift its attitude to business in the face of falling renewable energy prices and public pressure. There is also a strong financial incentive behind this.
At the same time, there is a surge in business that drives businesses to include climate change risk factors in their financial decisions. The ultimate goal of the move is that businesses and investors must be able to demonstrate that they have taken the necessary steps to transition to “net zero” emissions, which are mandatory.
There are already 70 central banks working to achieve this goal. Embedding these requirements into the structure of the world financial system is a key issue at this year’s Conference in Glasgow.
The analysis also points out that while there is reason to be hopeful about the future, it is important to recognize that there is still a long way to go between vision and reality. The reality is that many countries are “generous in their mouths”, but few have developed strategies for action. The challenge at the Glasgow conference is to get countries to sign up to policies that will immediately reduce carbon emissions.
