The Ecology Book

321

that he believes climate change

to be a natural phenomenon from

which the world can “come back”

without significant changes to

human behavior.

Other nations have voiced their

own concerns with the Paris

Agreement. The government of

Nicaragua, which joined the accord

in 2017, criticized the Agreement

for not going far enough and argued

that it will not reduce carbon

emissions quickly enough to avert

global climate disaster. The Paris

Agreement also lacks a mechanism

to ensure that countries that have

signed it comply with its terms.

Desperate measures

According to the terms of the Paris

Agreement, countries must work

together to limit the increase in

the global average temperature

to below 2°C (3.6°F) above pre-

industrial levels. The Agreement

also seeks to go further, suggesting

that the increase should be limited

to only 1.5°C (2.7°F). In a study

published in the journal Earth

System Dynamics in 2016, climate

scientist Carl-Friedrich Schleussner

and his co-researchers argued that

while an increase of 1.5°C would

create a global environment

mirroring the current highest

temperatures experienced, a 2°C

increase would usher in a “new

climate regime” unlike anything

humans have seen before.

Subsequent research has shown

that this 1.5°C target will prove

difficult to meet. In 2018, the IPCC

produced a Special Report on global

warming, as it had been tasked to

do by the Paris Agreement. Its

findings were alarming. Rather

than being on track for the 1.5°C

target, the world is now headed

closer to 3°C above preindustrial

levels. To recover and hit the target

of 1.5°C would require nations to

take unprecedented and drastic

measures. Global human CO 2

emissions would need to drop 45

percent from 2010 levels by 2030,

and in 2050, would need to reach

“net zero,” meaning that humans

ENVIRONMENTALISM AND CONSERVATION

The Paris Agreement was signed by 195

member countries of the UNFCCC. It placed

the responsibility on developed nations to assist

those who lacked the funds or resources to

combat climate change alone.

Developed

countries will

provide financial

help to developing

countries.

Developed nations

will take the

lead in reducing

carbon emissions.

Greenhouse gas

emissions must

peak as soon

as possible.

The losses suffered

by vulnerable

nations due to

climate change

must be addressed.

The burden of change

create no emissions without also

removing an equivalent amount of

CO 2 from the atmosphere.

The IPCC’s 2018 report also

appealed to individuals to do their

part to lower CO 2 emissions. Land

use, energy, cities, and industry are

the major areas in which the IPCC

suggests change is necessary:

people should embrace electric cars;

walk and bicycle more; and fly less

often, because planes produce a

significant proportion of greenhouse

gases. The IPCC also encouraged

people to buy less meat, milk,

cheese, and butter, because reduced

demand for these products should

lead to lower emissions by the meat

and dairy processing industries.

While global agreements such as

Kyoto and Paris have dominated the

conversation, it is now clear that

any and all methods to lower CO 2

emissions must be pursued. ■

We have presented

governments with pretty

hard choices. We have pointed

out the enormous benefits of

keeping to 1.5°C.

Professor Jim Skea

Co-Chair, IPCC working group III

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