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Why make climate action an overriding priority
Action on climate change should now be seen to be an overriding priority.
What makes climate action an overriding priority is a combination of
What makes climate action an overriding priority is a combination of
- self-interest
- the moral obligation
- international commitments
- promises made in the Rio Declaration
- promises made in the Paris Agreement
- the physics of global warming: the dependence on cumulative emissions
- carbon budgets are running out.
Action on climate change should now be seen to be overriding priority.
What makes climate action an overriding priority is a combination of
- self-interest
- moral obligation
- international commitments.
- the physics of global warming: the dependence on cumulative emissions
- carbon budgets are running out.
Self-interest
On a basis of purely self-interest, it make sense to limit climate damage because otherwise each country will be affected by- extreme heat
- storms
- economic disruption
- worldwide disorder
- refugees and migration.
Moral obligation
The moral obligation to act comes from- the scale of harm being done by burning of fossil fuels
- deaths
- refugees
- political instability
- the people who are most affected being the ones who are the least responsible.
International commitments
- promises made in the Rio Declaration of 1992
- promises made in the Paris Agreement of 2015
The physics of global warming: the dependence on cumulative emissions
A key point is that about half of the CO2 put in the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels stays there for centuries or millenia, and so changes to the climate are cumulative and irreversible, unless new technologies are developed.Carbon budgets are running out
The global carbon budget for 1.5°C will run out in about 2030 at current rates, and the carbon budgets for individual developed countries run out even sooner, if they have not been exhausted already.First published: Nov 2019