Today is December 12th (just in case you didn't open your calendar). Why does it matter? It marks the anniversary of the Paris agreement . Yeap the same Paris agreement that has been so debated during these last year due to US request of withdrawal and then the promise to rejoin under the Biden administration. The agreement was signed in 2015, and while I am sure most of you reading this will be super familiar with it here is a little reminder of what it is : The Paris Agreement is a landmark environmental accord that was adopted by nearly every nation in 2015 to address climate change and its negative impacts Its central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius. As per most recent data: 194 states (+ the ‘eu’) have signed it But the thing is : 5 years down the line us time to assess how we are doing . can we achieve this goal ? Well. According to this article in the guardian 'On some measures, Paris could be judged a failure. Emissions in 2015 were about 50 bn tonnes. By 2019, they had risen to about 55bn tonnes, according to the UN Environment Programme (Unep). Carbon output fell dramatically, by about 17% overall and far more in some regions, in this spring’s coronavirus lockdowns, but the plunge also revealed an uncomfortable truth: even when transport, industry and commerce grind to a halt, the majority of emissions remain intact. Far greater systemic change is needed, particularly in energy generation around the world, to meet the Paris goals.' And well...the urgency of action is real and chances of reaching the 1.5 degree scenario are really, really slim. Look at the figure below - at the top we have the different warming scenarios, and in the same colours below the emission rate (reduction) needed to achieve those goals. Do you see? The 1.5 scenario requires drastic cut - right here right now, turn that computer off and go work the land. Let's be honest, is not gonna happen. If we reconcile ourselves, gave up on the 1.5 idea and aim for the 2 degrees scenario (the blue line) it still doesn’t and shouldn’t mean that we have a lot of time . Just means that we have more and better chances of achieving our goal if (and only if) we start really putting in the effort now (not tomorrow).
Forgive the comparisons, but let’s imagine for a second we (as the world) are a runner in training for the first marathon , but starting the training a little late. Too late to achieve a fast finish with a time goal, but maybe with enough time to train to be able to go the distance and cross the finish line alive . If we start the serious training now . And now for some positives I think we have a chance I do see a difference Firstly climate change has made it into people’s vocabulary, into everyday conversations. Maybe because I live in Venice where we have it right in front of our eyes and beneath our feet with the big dangers posed by sea level rise. But also storms , heatwaves - people start to say it’s climate change . It’s the first stage of healing : acknowledging. Secondly there is some general awareness that plastic is bad , that it’s better to buy locally and at the market . Maybe there is still a lack of proper information but hearing certain things from everyday people not from my ‘sustainable bubble’ gives me some relief Thirdly greenwashing is being acknowledged as an issue. For example , incentives to be given to industry for their green actions will have to be vetted by the ministry of environment rather than by the banks themselves. To avoid greenwashing (in Italy! Sometimes also our politicians do something right although nobody talks about it...!!) Lastly: new generations are caring . While it is wrong that teens have to take the weight of the mistakes made by older generations, it is great to see that younger (under 30) are caring and trying to navigate a different world . While 30 + (‘90s gen ..) are still believing in a normal world as one with a job in the city , a house , a car per family person and finding all kinds of possible food in the supermarket without bothering to ask where is from, I see more younger people realising that’s not gonna be the case and trying to reinvent the wheel. Perhaps we should take a closer look at our lives especially for us younger bunch in the older category and see if we can help them out. The permanent job with the extra salary month in December and the annual bonus is not there and honestly we can live much much better than that and in closer harmony with our surroundings... When we will learn that we should be in a good place in the blue line. And if not, then we might as well be left fighting with fires, waves, landslides, fallen trees, rising tides, tsunamis, earthquakes and so on...
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