The state of the climate crisis Climate Action Tracker
Transcriber: Joseph Geni
Reviewer: Joanna Pietrulewicz
In November 2015, 197 countries
came together in Paris
and agreed to pursue efforts
to limit the temperature increase
on our planet to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The Climate Action Tracker
monitors the climate commitments
and actions of 36 countries,
totalling roughly 80 percent of today’s
global greenhouse gas emissions.
Here’s the bad news:
those emissions are still rising
and have already warmed the globe
by 1.1 degrees Celsius.
The tracker makes two problems clear.
First, countries have not
set emissions targets
ambitious enough to reach
the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Even if every country hit their targets,
the temperature would still increase
by more than two degrees Celsius
over the next 70 years,
and continue to rise
into the 22nd century and beyond.
Second, governments
are simply not delivering
even on their unambitious targets.
Everything these 36 countries
have done so far,
and everything
they are currently planning,
will only slow the growth in emissions.
We need to do more than that.
To have a hope of limiting
global warming to 1.5 degrees,
we need to cut global emissions in half
by 2030 and get to net zero by 2050.
Let’s go through the numbers.
Of the 36 countries analyzed,
only two are taking enough action
to restrain global warming to 1.5 degrees.
The Gambia has pledged
to reduce its emissions,
despite being one of
the developing countries
that has contributed least to the problem.
And Morocco is building
more and more solar power.
Every other country is failing.
2020 is the year national governments
were supposed to come together
and strengthen their targets.
So far, only a few have done so
while others have announced
they’re sticking with their existing
insufficient targets.
Now, some countries aren’t
too far behind The Gambia and Morocco,
such as India and Kenya.
But the countries
with the most advanced economies,
those with the greatest capacity
to innovate and help others,
are shirking their
responsibilities to lead.
The United States is currently
withdrawing from the Paris Agreement.
China shows promise;
its pledge to balance out
its carbon emissions by 2060
could save the world as much as
0.3 degrees Celsius of global warming.
But actions on the ground remain divided.
China is the largest market
for wind and solar power,
but also for new coal-fired power plants.
And the EU is taking steps
in the right direction
with its green deal to make
member countries more sustainable.
But this deal is still
not enough for 1.5 degrees.
So are there any signs of hope?
One key measure is a country’s willingness
to clean up electricity.
Clean power can enable other sectors
to reduce or eliminate emissions.
More than 50 countries, 30 regions,
160 cities and 200 businesses
have committed to
100 percent clean electricity.
Denmark, Scotland
and the state of South Australia
are almost there already,
but much of the world still needs
to commit to, and accelerate,
this energy transition.
There’s more good news
in the transportation sector.
More than 20 countries, five regions,
50 cities and 60 businesses
have already committed
to 100 percent emission-free cars,
motorcycles and buses.
Norway is mandating the end of all sales
of fossil fuel cars by 2025.
Meanwhile, the US is allowing companies
to make cars that don’t travel
as far on a gallon of gas,
rolling back fuel efficiency standards.
Other sectors, such as steel
and cement-making
or aviation and shipping,
are even further behind
and trickier to clean up.
But some steel and cement companies
are developing carbon-free production,
and Norway and Scotland are targeting
carbon-free short-haul flights.
In November 2015, 197 countries
came together in Paris
and set targets to fight climate change.
These targets were already insufficient
to reach the stated goal
of limiting global warming
to 1.5 degrees Celsius,
and most are not on track to achieve
even their own inadequate targets.
We need more ambitious targets
and much more ambitious actions.
In the next decade, we need to transform
key sectors of the global economy
in order to reduce emissions.
These changes will be difficult
but not impossible,
because they will also bring
enormous opportunities
like creating millions of jobs.
And don’t lose track of this key point:
such a transformation
will also mean cleaner air
and a safer, more stable climate for all.