Existing policies and actions taken by world governments put the world on track for a median estimate of 2.7°C of warming by the end of the century, Climate Action Tracker revealed on Thursday at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan.
If global leaders make no further effort to reduce emissions, temperatures have a 33% chance of spiking past 3°C of warming by 2100 and a 10% chance of overtaking 3.6°C, which report lead author Sofia Gonzales-Zuniga called “an absolutely catastrophic level of warming.”
“The combined global effect of government action on climate change has flatlined over the last three years, underscoring a critical disconnect between the reality of climate change and the lack of urgency on policies to cut emissions,” Climate Action Tracker (CAT) announced during its annual update at COP29.
The report attributes the lack of progress to the fact that few governments announced new climate targets in 2024 while they continued to facilitate the increased burning of fossil fuels, despite the pledge made at last year’s COP28 to transition away from oil, gas, and coal.
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Tipping points have been passed and more are in view on the highway to hell. Buying a Tesla or solar panels or recycling-most of the plastic 80% goes to landfills, will not change the course of events or provide an offramp on the highway.
We instead need to focus on protection, fortifying populations centers, developing more and better emergency response systems, developing housing and other infrastructure that can withstand wind, water and fire. Move away from the coasts in many cases and develop food sources that are protected, increase the amount of food stored for emergencies. Stop fighting each other because Mother Nature is going to end it one way or the other.
What I am arguing is that this is a long-term multigenerational engagement/project in a more collectivist society that can restore the balance being lost, restore the natural world through understanding and working with the natural cycles and life forms of our planet. I have hope that many of the young ones have or will develop a level of maturity to see beyond the nation state identities recognizing we are one human species on this third rock from the sun. On youtube I have seen a number of videos of individuals and groups who are having successes restoring and upgrading damaged areas of the earth but it is not yet the norm. They are the early leaders I am hoping in the next few years there will be many adapters of humanity’s most important work.