International climate events in a politically difficult year
The effects of global warming are alarming and the world needs to take urgent measures.
Eugen Coroianu, 26.01.2024, 14:00
Mankind, or at least part of it, seems increasingly aware of the fact that the implementation of climate policies, aimed mainly at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, is vital and urgent. Global warming cannot be denied anymore and its effects are now visible to the bare eye, almost everywhere. The Earth has recently exceeded 1.5° degrees Celsius of global warming compared to its level in the pre-industrial period, according to data from the UKs National Weather Service. This is a critical threshold that scientists have long warned could cause irreversible effects: heat waves, including marine ones, severe drought and flooding and an accelerated rise in sea level. In this respect, data from NASA shows an increase of about 10 cm in the level of the Planetary Ocean in three decades alone. Another effects of the global warming are an increased extinction of species, worse food and water shortages, increased spread of disease and a destabilization of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets.
To prevent or at least limit all these, global greenhouse gas emissions need to go down by around 45% from the 2010 levels by 2030 and reach zero level by 2050. The various combinations of actions that could lead to these results, according to the “Infoclima” website, are: phasing out fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas, as quickly as possible and replace them with clean energy sources such as wind, solar, geothermal and advanced nuclear power; significantly increasing energy efficiency in buildings, transport and industry, to reduce energy demand and stepping up efforts to eliminate carbon; reducing deforestation and restoring forests and other natural carbon sinks; switching to electric vehicles and introducing more walking, cycling and public transport use; reducing material waste, food loss and changing the diet to plant-based food; switching industrial processes for alternatives with low carbon emissions and investing in carbon capture by large emitters such as factories and power plants.
There is no universal solution and local and regional approaches can only have partial results. Consequently, the effort must be global, and the year 2024 promises to be very rich in international meetings on environmental topics, in an attempt to find common ground on what needs to be done.
Here are some of the highlights: The year kicked off with the virtual IRENA Conference, which will be followed in April by a physical one in Abu Dhabi, in parallel with the World Future Energy Summit. IRENA – International Renewable Energy Agency – is an intergovernmental organization mandated to facilitate cooperation, advance knowledge, and promote the adoption and sustainable use of renewable energy. Last year it brought together world leaders and energy decision-makers in a conference to take stock of operational plans and policies, and highlight actions taken to implement the energy transition around the world. The eighth International Conference on Climate Change will be held next month in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and the main theme is finding effective and innovative solutions to achieve global net zero. Other topics will be: impact assessment on various ecosystems, technical, economic and social responses to climate change, climate change and health, agriculture and food security, etc. The tenth edition of the World Water Forum will follow in March in Bali, Indonesia, an important event organized by the UN, and aimed at finding concrete solutions to meet the challenges in the field, especially on the African continent and in the Middle East region.
A month later, the International Conference on Climate Change: Impact and Responses will be organized in the French town of Pau. It is the 16th edition, dominated by a shared concern for science and social responses to climate change. Later in the fall, in October, there will be the third World Conference on Climate Change and Sustainability, this time in Barcelona, Spain. Climatologists, biologists, agronomists, energy experts, but also important people from various industries and government organizations will participate, writes the Romanian website Infoclima. Finally, the big climate event of 2024 will take place in Baku, Azerbaijan, an OPEC Plus member country. It will host COP 29, which will have to find solutions to the range of policies and measures proposed at COP 28 Dubai, which were postponed, and where negotiations have been extremely difficult and with few concrete results. All are taking place in a highly volatile international political context, with two major crises – Ukraine and Gaza – potentially seriously affecting everyones environmental efforts.
