Dawn 16 jan,2020

The Global Climate Risk Index has placed Pakistan on the fifth spot on the list of
countries most vulnerable to climate change in its annual report for 2020, which
was released by the think-tank Germanwatch on Wednesday.

According to the report, Pakistan lost 9,989 lives, suffered economic losses worth
$3.8 billion and witnessed 152 extreme weather events from 1999 to 2018 and based
on this data, the think-tank has concluded that Pakistan's vulnerability to climate
change is increasing.

according to the report, Pakistan is among the countries that are "recurrently affected
by catastrophes [and] continuously rank among the most affected countries both in the
long-term index and in the index for the respective year"

Geographical location and lack of action

One of the reasons for Pakistan to be continuously ranked high in the long-term index
of the report is mainly dueAccording to David Eckstein, one of the co-authors of this
report, "the entire region where Pakistan is located is prone to extreme weather
events, in particular, heavy rainfalls e.g. during monsoon season, and floodings as a
result." to its geographical location.

"In terms of economic costs at $3.8 million, we are number three over a 20-year
period. What this means is that our economy is constantly at risk from climate
catastrophes and this is not just an environmental challenge but an issue impacting
our economy, human health, agriculture and ecosystem,"

Assistance required
As Pakistan is situated in a vulnerable geographical location, where the intensity and
frequency of extreme weather events are high, Eckstein urges the government to
develop appropriate measures like projects, programmes and plans to protect the most
vulnerable population. At the same time, he realises that, in order to succeed in its
efforts, Pakistan will require assistance.

"It cannot do this with its own means, most likely, therefore, it will require the
financial and technical support from the international community through channels,
such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF)," he said.

Pakistan’s NDC revealed that the country needs US$ 40 billion to reduce 20 per cent
of its emissions for 2030 and US$ 7-14 billion annually for adaptation. Independent
experts state these figures as unrealistic but Malik Amin Aslam believes the "it
reflects the amount that the global climate finance infrastructure needs to make
available for Pakistan to shift towards a low carbon trajectory growth".

Dirty fuel
The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government's efforts does not change the fact that
Pakistan has heavily invested into the dirtiest fossil fuel on earth — coal and that can
further exacerbate its vulnerability to climate change. Dr Najam drew attention to this
dark side, as Pakistan’s NDC confirms that the country plans to increase its emissions
to fourfold, with a sizeable share coming from coal-fired power plants.

"I want to see the energy productivity of Pakistan increased but the energy itself
doesn’t have to be polluting. Coal is a dying technology. Why are we going after
outdated technology which is more expensive than solar and wind? Why should we
imperil the lives of own people?” he asked.

"It just like someone insisting on buying a cassette player in the age of digital and
iPhones. Coal’s time is up."

Dawn 26 nov,2020
What the government should do
 Undertake urgent reforestation and afforestation programmes on mountain
slopes. Northern areas have suffered severe deforestation due to a lack of
access to electricity and natural gas. The Billion-tree Tsunami campaign is a
good start but needs to be scaled up in the long-term. The communities and the
general public also need to be engaged in mass plantation drives across the
country.
 Build dams in Thar to store rainwater. Let me also stress here how important
local consultation is. During our travels, we came across a dam in Nagarparkar
being used as a cricket pitch because the government did not consult people
and disregarded their knowledge of where to best build it. Sometimes, the
solution is as simple as asking the people. They live there and have a pretty
good idea of what solutions would work in their context.
 Devise and implement a waste management strategy for mountainous areas.
Since mountain communities have nowhere to dispose of their waste, they end
up either throwing it in the rivers, burning the waste in open air (which
 contributes to black carbon deposition on glaciers and accelerates their melting)
or burying it underground (which resurfaces in the event of a natural disaster
and adds to existing risks). Proper waste disposal systems and awareness
(especially for tourists) can help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, air
pollution and disaster risk.
 Ban diesel vehicles in the mountains. An increasing number of tourists visiting
the scenic mountains in the north opt for using diesel (the most inefficient fuel)
in their four-wheelers. The particulate matter emitted by the incomplete
burning of fuels at such high altitudes directly contributes to the rapid melting
of glaciers, thereby accelerating climate change and worsening the health of
people.
 Switch to renewable energy sources. We have massive potential for solar
energy in Thar and hydropower in the north which can provide clean, cost-
effective and uninterrupted energy.
 Acknowledge that Pakistan faces diverse climate challenges in different
geographical and cultural contexts. For example, the climate impacts in Chitral
will be vastly different from the impacts faced by Sindh. Therefore, there is a
need to ideate solutions keeping in mind the context and diversity.
 Deploy a proactive approach rather than a reactionary one. We usually react to
a disaster once it has happened, instead of preparing ourselves beforehand. The
proactive approach of preparedness and foresightedness will save much time,
money and lives.
 Make climate change a priority in the development and political agenda.
Climate change will influence every area of human and economic development
and needs to be taken into account at every level.
These efforts are urgently required, but it is also important to recognise that the onus
for change is not completely on the government. We, as aware citizens, need to
demand action on these issues and work closely with governmental and non-
governmental institutions to ensure that these measures get implemented. It is time to
shun passivity and take an active part in climate advocacy.

What can you do?

We, each in our own capacity and community, have the power to take climate action.
Here are some starting ideas:

 Just talk about climate change. We don’t change what we never discuss. You
can form local climate discussion groups to start the conversation, reach out,
help and support vulnerable people and take collective action.
 We need activism , not pessimism. It takes courage to focus on a positive and
action-oriented approach. Go work for or volunteer with a local organisation
working on climate change issues.
  Please reconsider piling your plates with excess food the next time you’re at a
wedding or party. Currently, 40% of the food in Pakistan goes to waste while
43% of our population is considered food insecure. What most people don’t
realise is that food waste is also a big contributor to climate change. Methane (a
powerful greenhouse gas) is emitted from rotting food in landfills. You can also
help by donating excess food to a charity or initiatives like the Robinhood
Army and ‘Rizq that help redistribute it to the needy.
 Reiterating a cliché here but it’s important: save energy. In a country like ours,
where electricity supply is intermittent and already a luxury, we must be extra
mindful and turn off lights and appliances when not in use. This can be as
simple as unplugging your charger when your phone/laptop is fully charged.
Plugged devices still consume phantom power and add to your bill and the
greenhouse gas emissions.
 Write about and share your ideas and work. Every climate story (whether of
suffering or success) matters. It gives other people permission to share theirs.
The list of recommendations shared here is in no way complete; it only serves as a
reminder that climate action can be initiated at different scales. Taking action can also
help with eco-anxiety (a new type of psychological condition where you feel
extremely worried about the worsening state of our planet and climate).

Feeling anxious about the environmental crisis may not be a bad thing in small doses,
if it motivates you to avoid the catastrophic future. Remember that a series of small
steps implemented by many leads to a large impact and change. At this point, we need
everyone doing their part to deal with a problem as complex and imminent as climate
change.

Planting trees and banning plastics alone won’t lessen

our vulnerability to the changing climate.
One of the drastic effects of the changing climate is that it ultimately affects
our GDP. What about health? Poor people in Sindh die not only due to
malnutrition, but also because of the unbearable heat. Several have died in the
recent heavy rains because the appropriate infrastructure is not in place. The
smog that hits Lahore each year affects the health of so many. Yet we fail to
understand the dangers of the changing climate.

What have we done so far?

We have planted a billion trees in KP, and we are planting more under the 10
Billion Tree Tsunami project. That’s good news. However, is that enough? No,
it isn’t. For one, the project hasn’t reached completion yet. Secondly, trees will
take time to grow and show their positive effect on the environment. Thirdly,
there is speculation that not all the trees being planted are fast growers and
helpful for the underground water table. Is that enough to compensate for and
balance out the deforestation that is taking place in hilly areas such as Murree
and Abbottabad, to accommodate the rising population? In fact, it isn’t
enough.

Recently the authorities announced the Plastic Bag Se Azadi campaign. That
surely gives hope, but from what we have witnessed in the past, such schemes
are never implemented properly in Pakistan. Unless there is strict
implementation of the law, we cannot be too optimistic. If the rules are
enforced it would be a good start to gaining control over plastic pollution. This
does not directly help decrease global heating but will contribute positively to
sustaining land and marine life.

The government’s next step should be to ban one-time-use plastics, which

include disposable cups, straws and food boxes. That has a direct relation with
global heating as a lot of energy is consumed in their production. All plastics
are bad, but some alternatives are better than the one-time-use (polyethylene
terephthalate) plastics which can be replaced with high-density polyethylene.
An example is that of tumblers which are easily available in the market.
Styrofoam is yet another culprit, and although a bill was formulated by the
Punjab Food Authority in 2018 to ban styrofoam as food packaging, it is yet to
be approved, and we see its rampant use in local food markets as well as high-
end restaurants.

Our energy systems

While discussing climate change and its effects, we cannot leave out energy
systems. Pakistan is heavily reliant on energy generation via fossil fuels for its
power needs. Our total energy mix largely includes oil, gas and coal, while a
small amount constitutes renewable resources of energy. The Alternative
Energy Development Board has been tasked by the government to generate at
least five per cent of the total national power generation from renewable
resources including solar, hydel, biomass, wind and nuclear by 2030.

Our largest solar PV park, the Quaid-i-Azam Solar Park in Bahawalpur, has a
total installed capacity of 1,000MW, yet we do not quite see its benefits.
Pakistan also has the potential to utilise its biomass as a source of alternative
energy, but there have been many challenges on this front. One such challenge
has been the low price of petroleum in the past. Nonetheless, with rising fuel
prices and a declining economy, it seems there is a future for biomass as an
alternative source of fuel, particularly for the industrial sector.
The recent signing of new contracts to import oil and gas from countries
including Russia and Saudi Arabia does not solve our energy crises, and, in
fact, will only increase our vulnerability to the changing climate. One can
clearly note the geopolitics of energy here. Besides that, the reluctance of
people to switch to renewable energy due to their lack of understanding of its
benefits is also a huge challenge for the implementing agencies.

It is high time that we attempt an attitudinal shift. Planting trees and banning
plastics alone won’t lessen our vulnerability to the changing climate. There is a
dire need to wake up to this alarming issue on an individual level and to play
our part. We don’t have to do too much other than being eco-conscious and
responsive to our natural surroundings and taking ownership of the latter.

The writer is an environmentalist by profession and a Commonwealth

Scholar from Durham University, UK.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2019

The climate beast is hitting Pakistan far more often and at far too
many places than we know: extreme climate events have become a
regular phenomenon. The heatwave that took more than 1,200
lives in Karachi only two years ago has since been visiting us with
greater frequency and intensity. At 50.4oC, Nawabshah in Sindh
recorded in April 2018 the highest temperature ever recorded
globally. Floods and hydro-disasters since 2010 — when 20 million
Pakistanis were directly affected — have become an annual feature.
Riverine communities routinely get wiped away without even a
mention by media. And if it is not the floods, the calamity of
drought is afflicting misery in Tharpakar and several other regions
particularly in Balochistan.
dawn 01 april 2019
UN
Climate Change

Vidar Nordli-Mathisen

The wind farm “Los Granujales” in the South of Spain (Vejer de la Frontera, Cádiz). Replacing
fossil fuels with renewable energy sources like wind is one of the measures needed to slow down
climate change.

Climate Change is the defining issue of our time and we are at a defining moment. From
shifting weather patterns that threaten food production, to rising sea levels that increase
the risk of catastrophic flooding, the impacts of climate change are global in scope and
unprecedented in scale. Without drastic action today, adapting to these impacts in the
future will be more difficult and costly.

The Human Fingerprint on Greenhouse Gases

Greenhouse gases occur naturally and are essential to the survival of humans and
millions of other living things, by keeping some of the sun’s warmth from reflecting back
into space and making Earth livable. But after more than a century and a half of
industrialization, deforestation, and large scale agriculture, quantities of greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere have risen to record levels not seen in three million years. As
populations, economies and standards of living grow, so does the cumulative level of
greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions.
 There are some basic well-established scientific links:

 The concentration of GHGs in the earth’s atmosphere is directly linked to the average global
temperature on Earth;
 The concentration has been rising steadily, and mean global temperatures along with it, since
the time of the Industrial Revolution;
 The most abundant GHG, accounting for about two-thirds of GHGs, carbon dioxide (CO 2), is
largely the product of burning fossil fuels.

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was set up by the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO) and United Nations Environment to provide an
objective source of scientific information. In 2013 the IPCC provided more clarity about
the role of human activities in climate change when it released its Fifth Assessment
Report. It is categorical in its conclusion: climate change is real and human activities are
the main cause.

Fifth Assessment Report

The report provides a comprehensive assessment of sea level rise, and its causes, over
the past few decades. It also estimates cumulative CO  emissions since pre-industrial
2

times and provides a CO  budget for future emissions to limit warming to less than 2°C.
2

About half of this maximum amount was already emitted by 2011. The report found that:

 From 1880 to 2012, the average global temperature increased by 0.85°C.

 Oceans have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished and the sea level has risen.
From 1901 to 2010, the global average sea level rose by 19 cm as oceans expanded due to warming
and ice melted. The sea ice extent in the Arctic has shrunk in every successive decade since 1979, with
1.07 × 106 km² of ice loss per decade.
 Given current concentrations and ongoing emissions of greenhouse gases, it is likely that by the
end of this century global mean temperature will continue to rise above the pre-industrial level. The
world’s oceans will warm and ice melt will continue. Average sea level rise is predicted to be 24–30
cm by 2065 and 40–63 cm by 2100 relative to the reference period of 1986–2005. Most aspects of
climate change will persist for many centuries, even if emissions are stopped.
There is alarming evidence that important tipping points, leading to irreversible changes
in major ecosystems and the planetary climate system, may already have been reached
or passed. Ecosystems as diverse as the Amazon rainforest and the Arctic tundra, may
be approaching thresholds of dramatic change through warming and drying. Mountain
glaciers are in alarming retreat and the downstream effects of reduced water supply in
the driest months will have repercussions that transcend generations.

Global Warming of 1.5°C

In October 2018 the IPCC issued a special report on the impacts of global warming of
1.5°C, finding that limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require rapid, far-reaching and
unprecedented changes in all aspects of society. With clear benefits to people and
natural ecosystems, the report found that limiting global warming to 1.5°C compared to
2°C could go hand in hand with ensuring a more sustainable and equitable society.
While previous estimates focused on estimating the damage if average temperatures
were to rise by 2°C, this report shows that many of the adverse impacts of climate
change will come at the 1.5°C mark.

The report also highlights a number of climate change impacts that could be avoided by
limiting global warming to 1.5ºC compared to 2ºC, or more. For instance, by 2100,
global sea level rise would be 10 cm lower with global warming of 1.5°C compared with
2°C. The likelihood of an Arctic Ocean free of sea ice in summer would be once per
century with global warming of 1.5°C, compared with at least once per decade with 2°C.
Coral reefs would decline by 70-90 percent with global warming of 1.5°C, whereas
virtually all (> 99 percent) would be lost with 2ºC.

The report finds that limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require “rapid and far-
reaching” transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities. Global net
human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) would need to fall by about 45
percent from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching ‘net zero’ around 2050. This means that any
remaining emissions would need to be balanced by removing CO2 from the air.

United Nations legal instruments

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
The UN family is at the forefront of the effort to save our planet. In 1992, its “Earth
Summit” produced the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) as a first step in addressing the climate change problem. Today, it has near-
universal membership. The 197 countries that have ratified the Convention are Parties
to the Convention. The ultimate aim of the Convention is to prevent “dangerous” human
interference with the climate system.
Kyoto Protocol
By 1995, countries launched negotiations to strengthen the global response to climate
change, and, two years later, adopted the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol legally
binds developed country Parties to emission reduction targets. The Protocol’s first
commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012. The second commitment period
began on 1 January 2013 and will end in 2020. There are now 197 Parties to the
Convention and 192 Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.

Paris Agreement
At the 21st Conference of the Parties in Paris in 2015, Parties to the UNFCCC reached
a landmark agreement to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the
actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future. The Paris
Agreement builds upon the Convention and – for the first time – brings all nations into a
common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to
its effects, with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so. As such, it
charts a new course in the global climate effort.

The Paris Agreement’s central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of
climate change by keeping the 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.

On Earth Day, 22 April 2016, 175 world leaders signed the Paris Agreement at United
Nations Headquarters in New York. This was by far the largest number of countries ever
to sign an international agreement on a single day. There are now 186 countries that
have ratified the Paris Agreement.

2019 Climate Action Summit

On 23 September 2019, Secretary-General António Guterres convened a Climate
Summit to bring world leaders of governments, the private sector and civil society
together to support the multilateral process and to increase and accelerate climate
action and ambition. He named Luis Alfonso de Alba, a former Mexican diplomat, as his
Special Envoy to lead preparations. The Summit focused on key sectors where action
can make the most difference—heavy industry, nature-based solutions, cities, energy,
resilience, and climate finance. World leaders reported on what they are doing, and
what more they intend to do when they convene in 2020 for the UN climate conference,
where commitments will be renewed and may be increased. In closing the Climate
Action Summit, the Secretary-General said “You have delivered a boost in momentum,
cooperation and ambition. But we have a long way to go.”

“We need more concrete plans, more ambition from more countries and more
businesses. We need all financial institutions, public and private, to choose, once and
for all, the green economy.”

Climate Change

Vidar Nordli-Mathisen

The wind farm “Los Granujales” in the South of Spain (Vejer de la Frontera, Cádiz). Replacing
fossil fuels with renewable energy sources like wind is one of the measures needed to slow down
climate change.

Climate Change is the defining issue of our time and we are at a defining moment. From
shifting weather patterns that threaten food production, to rising sea levels that increase
the risk of catastrophic flooding, the impacts of climate change are global in scope and
unprecedented in scale. Without drastic action today, adapting to these impacts in the
future will be more difficult and costly.

The Human Fingerprint on Greenhouse Gases

Greenhouse gases occur naturally and are essential to the survival of humans and
millions of other living things, by keeping some of the sun’s warmth from reflecting back
 into space and making Earth livable. But after more than a century and a half of
industrialization, deforestation, and large scale agriculture, quantities of greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere have risen to record levels not seen in three million years. As
populations, economies and standards of living grow, so does the cumulative level of
greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions.

There are some basic well-established scientific links:

 The concentration of GHGs in the earth’s atmosphere is directly linked to the average global
temperature on Earth;
 The concentration has been rising steadily, and mean global temperatures along with it, since
the time of the Industrial Revolution;
 The most abundant GHG, accounting for about two-thirds of GHGs, carbon dioxide (CO 2), is
largely the product of burning fossil fuels.

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was set up by the World
Meteorological Organization (WMO) and United Nations Environment to provide an
objective source of scientific information. In 2013 the IPCC provided more clarity about
the role of human activities in climate change when it released its Fifth Assessment
Report. It is categorical in its conclusion: climate change is real and human activities are
the main cause.

Fifth Assessment Report

The report provides a comprehensive assessment of sea level rise, and its causes, over
the past few decades. It also estimates cumulative CO  emissions since pre-industrial
2

times and provides a CO  budget for future emissions to limit warming to less than 2°C.
2

About half of this maximum amount was already emitted by 2011. The report found that:

 From 1880 to 2012, the average global temperature increased by 0.85°C.

 Oceans have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished and the sea level has risen.
From 1901 to 2010, the global average sea level rose by 19 cm as oceans expanded due to warming
and ice melted. The sea ice extent in the Arctic has shrunk in every successive decade since 1979, with
1.07 × 106 km² of ice loss per decade.
 Given current concentrations and ongoing emissions of greenhouse gases, it is likely that by the
end of this century global mean temperature will continue to rise above the pre-industrial level. The
world’s oceans will warm and ice melt will continue. Average sea level rise is predicted to be 24–30
cm by 2065 and 40–63 cm by 2100 relative to the reference period of 1986–2005. Most aspects of
climate change will persist for many centuries, even if emissions are stopped.
There is alarming evidence that important tipping points, leading to irreversible changes
in major ecosystems and the planetary climate system, may already have been reached
or passed. Ecosystems as diverse as the Amazon rainforest and the Arctic tundra, may
be approaching thresholds of dramatic change through warming and drying. Mountain
glaciers are in alarming retreat and the downstream effects of reduced water supply in
the driest months will have repercussions that transcend generations.

Global Warming of 1.5°C

In October 2018 the IPCC issued a special report on the impacts of global warming of
1.5°C, finding that limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require rapid, far-reaching and
unprecedented changes in all aspects of society. With clear benefits to people and
natural ecosystems, the report found that limiting global warming to 1.5°C compared to
2°C could go hand in hand with ensuring a more sustainable and equitable society.
While previous estimates focused on estimating the damage if average temperatures
were to rise by 2°C, this report shows that many of the adverse impacts of climate
change will come at the 1.5°C mark.

The report also highlights a number of climate change impacts that could be avoided by
limiting global warming to 1.5ºC compared to 2ºC, or more. For instance, by 2100,
global sea level rise would be 10 cm lower with global warming of 1.5°C compared with
2°C. The likelihood of an Arctic Ocean free of sea ice in summer would be once per
century with global warming of 1.5°C, compared with at least once per decade with 2°C.
Coral reefs would decline by 70-90 percent with global warming of 1.5°C, whereas
virtually all (> 99 percent) would be lost with 2ºC.

The report finds that limiting global warming to 1.5°C would require “rapid and far-
reaching” transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities. Global net
human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) would need to fall by about 45
percent from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching ‘net zero’ around 2050. This means that any
remaining emissions would need to be balanced by removing CO2 from the air.

United Nations legal instruments

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
The UN family is at the forefront of the effort to save our planet. In 1992, its “Earth
Summit” produced the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) as a first step in addressing the climate change problem. Today, it has near-
universal membership. The 197 countries that have ratified the Convention are Parties
to the Convention. The ultimate aim of the Convention is to prevent “dangerous” human
interference with the climate system.

Kyoto Protocol
By 1995, countries launched negotiations to strengthen the global response to climate
change, and, two years later, adopted the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol legally
binds developed country Parties to emission reduction targets. The Protocol’s first
commitment period started in 2008 and ended in 2012. The second commitment period
began on 1 January 2013 and will end in 2020. There are now 197 Parties to the
Convention and 192 Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.

Paris Agreement
At the 21st Conference of the Parties in Paris in 2015, Parties to the UNFCCC reached
a landmark agreement to combat climate change and to accelerate and intensify the
actions and investments needed for a sustainable low carbon future. The Paris
Agreement builds upon the Convention and – for the first time – brings all nations into a
common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to
its effects, with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so. As such, it
charts a new course in the global climate effort.

The Paris Agreement’s central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of
climate change by keeping the 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.

On Earth Day, 22 April 2016, 175 world leaders signed the Paris Agreement at United
Nations Headquarters in New York. This was by far the largest number of countries ever
to sign an international agreement on a single day. There are now 186 countries that
have ratified the Paris Agreement.

2019 Climate Action Summit

On 23 September 2019, Secretary-General António Guterres convened a Climate
Summit to bring world leaders of governments, the private sector and civil society
together to support the multilateral process and to increase and accelerate climate
action and ambition. He named Luis Alfonso de Alba, a former Mexican diplomat, as his
Special Envoy to lead preparations. The Summit focused on key sectors where action
can make the most difference—heavy industry, nature-based solutions, cities, energy,
resilience, and climate finance. World leaders reported on what they are doing, and
what more they intend to do when they convene in 2020 for the UN climate conference,
where commitments will be renewed and may be increased. In closing the Climate
Action Summit, the Secretary-General said “You have delivered a boost in momentum,
cooperation and ambition. But we have a long way to go.”

“We need more concrete plans, more ambition from more countries and more
businesses. We need all financial institutions, public and private, to choose, once and
for all, the green economy.”

UN

019 was the second warmest year on record and the end of the warmest decade (2010-
2019) ever recorded.  

Carbon dioxide (CO2) levels and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere rose to

new records in 2019. 

Climate change is affecting every country on every continent. It is disrupting national

economies and affecting lives. Weather patterns are changing, sea levels are rising,
and weather events are becoming more extreme.

Although greenhouse gas emissions are projected to drop about 6 per cent in 2020 due
to travel bans and economic slowdowns resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, this
improvement is only temporary. Climate change is not on pause. Once the global
economy begins to recover from the pandemic, emissions are expected to return to
higher levels.

Saving lives and livelihoods requires urgent action to address both the pandemic and
the climate emergency.

The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, aims 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. The agreement also aims to strengthen the
ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change, through appropriate
financial flows, a new technology framework and an enhanced capacity building
framework.

COVID-19 response
 As countries move toward rebuilding their economies after COVID-
19, recovery plans can shape the 21st century economy in ways that are clean, green,
healthy, safe and more resilient. The current crisis is an opportunity for a
profound, systemic shift to a more sustainable economy that works for both people and
the planet.

The UN Secretary-General has proposed  six climate-positive actions for governments

to take once they go about building back their economies and societies:

1. Green transition: Investments must accelerate the decarbonization of all aspects of our

economy.
2. Green jobs and sustainable and inclusive growth
3. Green economy: making societies and people more resilient through a transition that is
fair to all and leaves no one behind.
4. Invest in sustainable solutions: fossil fuel subsidies must end and polluters must pay for
their pollution.
5. Confront all climate risks
6. Cooperation – no country can succeed alone.

To address the climate emergency, post-pandemic recovery plans need to trigger long-

term systemic shifts that will change the trajectory of CO2 levels in the atmosphere.

Governments around the world have spent considerable time and effort in recent years
to develop plans to chart a safer and more sustainable future for their citizens. Taking
these on board now as part of recovery planning can help the world build back
better from the current crisis.

NWT

Climate Solutions: A Special Report

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Climate change was seen as a threat for the future. Increasingly, it is a reality of
the present.
This article is part of a special report on  Climate Solutions.
As we now know, the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown has been a silver lining for another
global crisis: climate change. Sharp decreases in traffic and better air quality have been
reported around the world, and hundreds of jurisdictions from Berlin to Bogotá are
reallocating space to make it easier for walkers and cyclists with permanent
and emergency solutions, like “pop-up” bike routes.
“We are at a moment of change that we have not seen since World War II when cities
needed to reinvent themselves,” said Claudia Adriazola-Steil, global director for the
health and road safety program at the World Resources Institute’s Ross Center for
Sustainable Cities. “The longtime goals of reducing the number of cars on the roads and
unacceptable levels of air pollution was achieved in a few weeks. You can see the
Himalayan blue skies for the first time in 25 years.”
But speed is a serious “invisible threat, a hidden enabler” undermining those efforts, Ms.
Adriazola-Steil said. “If you have more people able to walk and bike, it will be a huge
gain in terms of climate change, but if we want cities to be more sustainable, you have to
reduce the speed of cars.”
Driving at lower speed means less fuel use, which lowers carbon emissions. It also
means less crash risk. Global efforts, from lowering speed and regulating the export of
“dirty” and unsafe cars to adopting smart street design, aim to reduce death on the
world’s roads and improve the environment.

“Humans have a developed sense of altitude, but not speed,” Ms. Adriazola-Steil said.
“It’s a perception that’s difficult to change.” For example, most people fear jumping out
a second-floor window, but the injury risk is about the same as getting hit by a car at 25
m.p.h.

Globally, speed is one of the biggest causes of traffic crash deaths and serious injury,
contributing to about one third of fatalities in high-income countries and up to one half
in low- and middle-income countries. In the United States, speed limits have been rising
since the mid-1990s.
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A market in Bangalore, India, in mid-May.Credit...Jagadeesh Nv/EPA, via Shutterstock

“People just do not understand that there are huge benefits from reducing speed,” said
Véronique Feypell, manager of the Road Safety Program at the International Transport
Forum, a Paris-based intergovernmental organization with 60 member countries within
the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Nearly all countries have reported a sharp decrease in traffic, around 70 percent. But
average speeds — including very excessive speeding — have increased during the
shelter-in-place period, including in the United States. “The individual benefit of going
just a little slower may appear to have a small impact, but the collective benefit has a
huge impact on the reduction in the number of crashes, serious injuries and deaths,” she
said, adding that a 10 percent increase in speed would, on average, lead to an increase of
about 40 percent in fatal crashes.
Speed reduction as an important international issue for both safety and CO2 emissions
was recognized at the Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety in February in
Stockholm by the Stockholm Declaration, which called for a maximum road travel speed
of 30 kilometers per hour (18 to 19 m.p.h.) in most urban areas around the world, to
“have a beneficial impact on air quality and climate change as well as being vital to
reduce road traffic deaths and injuries.”
 Climate and Environment ›

Keep Up on the Latest Climate News

Updated Aug. 18, 2020

Here’s what you need to know this week:

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 Five automakers sealed a binding agreement with California to follow the
state’s stricter tailpipe emissions rules.
 The Trump administration eliminated a major methane rule, even as leaks
are worsening, in a decision that researchers warned ignored science.
 Climate change leaders said the vice-presidential choice of Kamala
Harris signaled that Democrats will have a focus on environmental justice.
“This is the most hopeful of all moments,” said Claes Tingvall, a professor at Chalmers
University of Technology in Sweden and former director of traffic safety at the Swedish
Transport Administration, who with colleagues wrote the recommendations that formed
the basis of the Stockholm Declaration. “It puts it all together into a more holistic way of
thinking.”
Image
Milan in late April. The city has reallocated some lanes for bicycles and
pedestrians.Credit...Daniele Mascolo/Reuters

The Vision Zero or Safe System approach to roadway design, based largely on the
understanding that humans are human and make mistakes, has been widely
acknowledged and implemented in recent years for its success toward eliminating road
deaths and serious injuries, but the new declaration goes several steps further, said Dr.
Tingvall, known as the father and chief architect of Vision Zero.

The declaration’s recommendations, supported by the vast majority of the nearly 120
governments in attendance, also acknowledge that businesses, especially multinational
corporations, “are agreeing to take responsibility for their ‘safety footprint’: how their
supply chain links to traffic safety, the environment and its impact on the community,
”Dr. Tingvall said. “It’s a commitment that really hasn’t been there before.”

He and other experts say among other changes underway that show promise for
improving safety and air quality, are geofencing, a kind of virtual fence that controls
speed in a zone, and Intelligent Speed Assistance, which inhibits speed automatically in
accordance with local limits.
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An intersection in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, before a traffic safety project.Credit...New York City
Department of Transportation

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The same intersection in Williamsburg after the project’s completion.Credit...New York City
Department of Transportation

Skye Duncan is director of the Global Designing Cities Initiative, a program of the

National Association of City Transportation Officials. The program has worked in
dozens of cities in four continents. “Current practice dedicates an outsize amount of
road space to private vehicles, while other modes of transportation are often an
afterthought,” she said. “Streets that are designed to make it convenient and
comfortable to walk, cycle, and take transport not only make our cities safer, they make
them healthier, and less polluting, too.”
“Transportation is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the world
and is the fastest-growing,” Ms. Duncan said. “By redesigning streets, cities can quickly
tackle the urgent crises of climate change and road safety at the same time. The best
global solutions have immediate local impacts.”
Janette Sadik-Khan, a former commissioner of the New York City Department of
Transportation and now transportation principal at Bloomberg Associates, which
advises mayors around the world, noted that cities were undergoing “a street design”
revolution. “There is a straight line between what happens on city roads and global
climate change.”
“There are 1.3 million traffic deaths annually and another 4.2 million deaths attributed
to pollution,” said Ms. Sadik-Khan, who is also chair of the Global Designing Cities
Initiative. “Streets that are safe for people also support the health of the planet.”

“If your goal is to save the planet, you can start by building a bike lane,” Ms. Sadik-Khan
said.

Bloomberg Associates and the Global Designing Cities Initiative work, separately and in
collaboration, with cities to encourage smart street design using a mix of strategies:
reducing speed limits, increasing traffic enforcement and education, constructing
pedestrian plazas and traffic calming measures, investing in infrastructure and public
transit (including cleaner public transit vehicles), and building and expanding protected
bike lanes and bike share programs.
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An intersection in Fortaleza, Brazil, before a project by the Global Designing Cities
Initiative.Credit...NACTO's Global Designing Cities Initiative

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The intersection in Fortaleza after the project’s completion.Credit...NACTO’s Global Designing
Cities Initiative

In Fortaleza, Brazil, fatalities dropped by 50 percent from 2010 to 2019, one of the few
cities in the world to experience such a steep decline during that period, said Ms.
Duncan, whose organization produced the Global Street Design Guide and often works
with local artists and schoolchildren to brightly paint roadways and pedestrian areas
with markings and signage. “We find the use of color helps people see their streets in an
entirely different light, while building a new sense of ownership of the space,” she said.
“Every time we paint a street and give people a safe place to walk, it saves lives and
fights the climate crisis.”

After work in Mexico City from 2014 to 2016 on 106 intersections on 10 main corridors,
some of the city’s most dangerous, pedestrian deaths dropped 24 percent and cyclist
deaths dropped 77 percent. In Bogotá, Colombia, traffic deaths fell 17 percent from 2014
to 2019, reaching its lowest point in 20 years.

“If we make the roads safer, people will be able to walk and cycle, without risk,” said
Etienne Krug, director of the World Health Organization’s Department of Social
Determinants of Health. “If we make public transport more accessible and safe, people
will use it more. Governments have to make sure we have safe sidewalks and crosswalks
and bicycle lanes, and driving more slowly is something we can do as individuals.”
NWT
As an environmental writer, I’m often asked for guidance on coping with climate
change. I have thoughts. Even better, I have a five-point plan to manage the
psychological toll of living with climate change and to become part of the solution.
Step 1: Ditch the shame.
The first step is the key to all the rest. Yes, our daily lives are undoubtedly contributing
to climate change. But that’s because the rich and powerful have constructed systems
that make it nearly impossible to live lightly on the earth. Our economic systems require
most adults to work, and many of us must commute to work in or to cities intentionally
designed to favor the automobile. Unsustainable food, clothes and other goods remain
cheaper than sustainable alternatives.
And yet we blame ourselves for not being green enough. As the climate essayist Mary
Annaïse Heglar writes, “The belief that this enormous, existential problem could have
been fixed if all of us had just tweaked our consumptive habits is not only preposterous;
it’s dangerous.” It turns eco-saints against eco-sinners, who are really just fellow
victims. It misleads us into thinking that we have agency only by dint of our
consumption habits — that buying correctly is the only way we can fight climate change.

As long as we are competing for the title of “greener than thou,” or are paralyzed by
shame, we aren’t fighting the powerful companies and governments that are the real
problem. And that’s exactly the way they like it.

Step 2: Focus on systems, not yourself.

Even if we manage to zero-out our own contributions to climate change, it would be
practically a full-time job, leaving us little time or energy for pushing for the systemic
changes we need. And the avoided emissions would be tiny compared with the scale of
the problem. Each person in the United States emitted an average of 16 metric tons of
energy-related carbon dioxide in 2018, according to the Energy Information Agency.
The entire country emitted 5.28 billion metric tons of energy-related carbon dioxide that
year.
I have chosen to fight against a proposed gas pipeline, liquefaction facility and liquefied
natural gas export terminal that the Canadian company Pembina wants to build in
Oregon, where I live. If built, the project would result in emissions of over 36.8 million
metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year. Some 42,000 people submitted
comments to a state agency asking it to deny permits for the project. If we manage to
stop construction, each of those people could claim credit for preventing one forty-two-
thousandth of those emissions — some 876 metric tons per person! It would take 54
years of individual zero-carbon living to make the same dent.
My point is that the climate crisis is not going to be solved by personal sacrifice. It will
be solved by electing the right people, passing the right laws, drafting the right
regulations, signing the right treaties — and respecting those treaties already signed,
particularly with indigenous nations. It will be solved by holding the companies and
people who have made billions off our shared atmosphere to account.
Step 3: Join an effective group.
These sweeping, systemic changes are complicated and will be hard won. No single
person alone can make them happen. Luckily, there are already dozens, if not hundreds,
of groups dedicated to climate activism. Some are local and focused on stopping
particular fossil-fuel projects, like Rogue Climate in Southern Oregon, with which I am
working. Others are national and focused on changing federal policy, like Zero Hour and
the Sunrise Movement. Still others, like Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for Future, are
international and focused on putting moral pressure on climate negotiators and
governments around the world. Groups like Project Drawdown research the nuts and
bolts of decarbonizing the world. Climate change is linked to income inequality and
injustice, so if your passion is fighting for racial justice, the rights of the poor, or
indigenous rights and sovereignty, that works, too. Or you might volunteer for a climate-
focused local or national political candidate.
Step 4: Define your role.

The power of these groups is not simply strength in numbers. They work well because
they divide up the work that needs to be done and give each task to those best suited to
it. This also makes the fight less daunting. Instead of trying to become an expert in
international regulatory law, global supply chains, atmospheric science and the art of
protest, you can offer the skills and resources you already have, and trust that other
people with complementary skills are doing what they can do, too. If you are a writer,
you can write letters to the editor, newsletters and fliers. If you are strong, you can lift
boxes. If you are rich, you can donate money. Only you know what and how much you
can reasonably do. Take care not to overdo it at first and risk burning out. Set a
sustainable level of involvement for yourself and keep it up. As a bonus, working with a
group will increase the richness and diversity of your personal relationships, and may
well temper your climate anxiety and depression.

Step 5: Know what you are fighting for, not just what you are fighting against.

Even though keeping global warming under 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius)
would absolutely be better than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) of warming,
there is no threshold that means that it is “too late” or that we are “doomed.” The lower,
the better. It is always worth fighting.

As we fight, it is important for our mental health and motivation to have an image in
mind of our goal: a realistically good future.
Imagine dense but livable cities veined with public transit and leafy parks, infrastructure
humming away to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, fake meat that tastes
better than the real thing, species recovering and rewilding the world, the rivers silver
with fish, the skies musical with flocking birds.

This is a future where the economic inequality, racism and colonialism that made
decades of inaction on climate change possible has been acknowledged and is being
addressed. It is a time of healing. Many ecosystems have changed, but natural resilience
and thoughtful human assistance is preventing most species from going extinct. This is a
future in which children don’t need to take to the streets in protest and alarm, because
their parents and grandparents took action. Instead, they are climbing trees.

This future is still possible. But it will only come to pass if we shed our shame, stop
focusing on ourselves, join together and demand it.

Emma Marris is the author of “Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild

World.”