Dealing with Climate Change

Climate change cannot be entirely avoided, but if the worst impacts of climate change are to be avoided the average global surface temperature increase must be kept as far below 2 degrees Celsius as possible.

The planet has already warmed by 0.7 degrees from the pre-industrial average and even if emission were stablised at 2000 levels, the emissions already released into the atmosphere commit the planet to further warming of 0.5 to 1.2 degrees. Some regions warm faster than others and Southern Africa is already warming at roughly double the global average.

Emission already released

We only have a “budget” of 1 trillion tonnes of CO2 and another 400 billion tonnes of CO2e of other gasses left to spend as a planet from 2000 to 2050.

This may sound like a lot, until you realize that we’ve spent almost 60% of that budget already.

Download the WWF report, Climate Solutions 2

Windturbines

Solutions

To prevent dangerous climate change a global effort will have to be undertaken to achieve the following:

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from energy , transport and agriculture by between 80 and 95% (from 1990 levels) by 2050.
Halt deforestation, responsible for almost 20% of climate change.

The need to almost totally eliminate greenhouse gases means we have to move beyond the age of burning fossil fuels, to an age of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Halting deforestation requires putting in place the governance and incentives for forests to be valued while standing rather than as only a source for wood. This requires sustainable forestry practices and the provision of clean energy alternatives to areas which currently rely on fuel wood.

Read the World Health Organization's report on cooking fuels