FEATURE
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Is there any HOPE for our Better Future?
Shania Tahir Source: Shania Tahir, Date: , 2020
We
were expecting that 2020 was going to be a milestone year for the Climate
Change Crisis as the countries were actively working on their NDCs for COP26.
It was also the mid assessment year of the emission targets we set for 2030 in
the 2015 Paris Agreement. We aspired to lower CO2 emissions to 45% of 2010
levels by 2030 to accomplish net-zero emissions by mid-century. But in a matter
of months, the world has been transformed. Thousands of people have already
died, and hundreds of thousands more have fallen ill from a previously unknown
coronavirus. WHO announced it's a Pandemic, and the whole world is impacted in
a way never imagined before.
With
Governments trying to control the impact of the pandemic, using measures like
social distancing, country lockdowns, curfews, grounding airplanes, and closing
borders, we have seen a drop in Pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. It is
estimated that Global carbon dioxide emissions could fall 5% this year as a
result of the coronavirus pandemic, amounting to the most substantial annual
reduction on record. These emissions are not falling because of a technological
change or a long-term behavioral change, but due to short-term government
measures. Also, the impact of these reductions will not be visible soon, as CO2
is a long-lived gas.
The
nature and amount of emissions can easily be related to economic growth, which
is going to contract by 3% this year, as per IMF. But even with millions of
people around the world stuck at home, the world economy is consuming vast
quantities of fossil fuel and emitting large amounts of CO2. COVID 19 has
impacted the world economy in an unprecedented manner, with rising deaths,
widespread job losses, and business closures. Governments are now agreeing on
an economic stimulus package to help people and corporations survive the likely
recession. These packages must be used to kick-start a sustainable path towards
a cleaner future. Governments need to back clean technologies and end subsidies
to polluting industries. There are many opportunities to invest in low-carbon
infrastructure projects that will create jobs and put the world on a safer,
fairer, and more resilient path.
Reduction
in emissions is not sought at the cost of economic wellbeing. But Holding
global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius requires annual emission
reductions of 7.6% according to the United Nations' projections. Emissions from
every country accumulate in the atmosphere independently of where they are
released. Therefore, cuts will only be effective if all nations are on the same
trajectory towards net-zero emissions by 2050. Such targets can be achieved
only via structural change, which comes from transitioning our food patterns,
the entire energy system, the type of vehicles we buy, the electricity we consume
i.e., change in our lifestyle. We need to ensure that the good practices we
incorporate during the pandemic, like traveling via bicycles in many cities to
avoid congestion, are continued after the pandemic ends, and many more such
practices are adopted.
The
decisions we make now to tackle this imminent threat will affect us for
generations to come, including our ability to halt global warming. There may
not be any established link between COVID-19 and climate change. However, the
way we are altering the planet will make the spread of some diseases more
likely.
Economic
progress aims to improve the standard of living of people, but the increasing
disease burden pushes thousands into poverty each year. According to a WHO
estimation, nearly a quarter of the global health burden (measured as loss from
sickness, death, and financial costs) could be prevented by reducing the
environmental and social risk factors that hamper the immunity of the
population and make them susceptible to Diseases. Such Moments of crisis bring
with them opportunities for change. Two of the most effective ways in which we
can reduce the long-term health impacts and increase our resilience and
adaptive capacity to both the coronavirus pandemic and climate change are
creating a healthy environment for healthier populations and promoting a
sustainable path for the economic progression. We have an opportunity to make a
future where we not only survive but thrive together with nature.
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