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The climate situation 2025

For more details via infoboxes: hover, click or double-click on any highlighted text

global temperature chart
People who care about the world should:
  • be very concerned about climate change:
    • action on climate change is not going according to plan
    • governments are not acting in line with their commitments
    • the global total of CO2 emissions is still rising
    • the climate is deteriorating
    • the effects of climate change are cumulative and irreversible
  • aim to understand:
    • the science of climate change
    • the urgency of action on climate change
    • what should have happened
    • what has gone wrong
    • what options do we have now
  • take action:
    • improve decision making
    • disseminate accurate information
    • take personal action
    • advocate collective action across society.

This web page is a summary of the science on climate policy making, written for people who feel big decisions should be taken on the basis of facts and fairness (or Truth and Justice).
The aim is to give the full truth, and nothing but the truth, even if it is not what people would like to hear.

People should be very concerned about climate change

Human activity has changed the climate
  • the effects are cumulative and mostly irreversible
Action on climate change is not going according to plan:
  • in the
    Paris Agreement,[122]
    countries made commitments to limit global warming to 1.5°C (or at least to well under 2°C), which means phasing out fossil fuels
  • the scientific advice was that these commitments require
    "rapid and far-reaching transitions"[31]
    throughout society
The climate is continuing to deteriorate
  • total global CO2 emissions are still rising
  • in developed countries, emissions are not falling fast enough
  • the global temperature rise is close to 1.5°C
Government actions are not in line with the promises given
  • government actions are completely at variance with the speed of change needed
Governments have a poor record of decision making on important questions
  • in the UK, there is a recurring pattern of wasting billions of pounds on ineffective policies and ignoring effective policies
There is much concern about catastrophic errors in decision making
  • the UN Secretary-General has warned: "Some government and business leaders are saying one thing - but doing another. Simply put, they are lying."
  • climate protesters are very vocal and not deterred by long prison sentences.
Read more at carbonindependent.org/183.html

People should aim to understand the essential points

The science of climate change
  • the steady rise in global temperature as mankind dumps more CO2 into the atmosphere
  • the unacceptable level of climate deaths, climate refugees, biodiversity loss and sea level rise
The urgency of action on climate change
  • the global
    carbon budget
    for 1.5°C runs out in 2030, and even sooner in developed countries
    e.g. 2025 for the UK
  • this means radical changes in lifestyles for many until renewable alternatives are developed, if temperature targets are to be met
What should have been done by governments and wider society
  • discussion of the impications of the Paris Agreement, agreement of a plan to eliminate fossil fuels, and implementation of the plan
What has actually been done
  • there have been many declarations of a climate emergency, but planning has been of non-emergency policies, and there has been little action
What has gone wrong
  • widespread failure of decision making
  • there has been no general discussion of the imminent exhaustion of the carbon budget - inadequate government timescales dominate discussions and have not been challenged
  • even
    climate campaigners are understating the size and urgency of changes needed, and advocating inadequate policies
  • flawed campaigning seems to be not just misunderstanding but a form of
    climate denial.
What choices do we have now
  • our current lifestyles are unsustainable, so radical change is coming - we can choose to organise radical change, or have disorganised radical change forced upon us
  • whether to continue with inadequate non-emergency policies or treat climate change as the highest priority i.e. as an
    emergency
  • whether to continue with the target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C or to accept the system has failed and consider a higher limit of e.g. 1.6°C
Read more at carbonindependent.org/184.html

People should take action

Correct the errors in decision making, in both advocacy groups and decision makers in government
  • science-based decision making
    • accept that decision making is often flawed
    • devise procedures to scrutinise decisions and remove errors
  • shared decision making (SDM) so that all parts of society are involved
Decide on the speed of change
  • emergency (not routine) action
  • e.g. a pathway to Net Zero 2030
Disseminate accurate information
  • anticipate shock and anger
  • explain that current affluent lifestyles are unsustainable,and will end one way or another
  • explain the promises made in the Paris Agreement and the choices we have
Take personal action
  • reduce fossil fuel use as fast as possible
Advocate collective action across society
  • reduce fossil fuel use very rapidly, including a massive programme of insulation, ending leisure aviation, much reduced vehicle mileage, and restructuring of the food supply.
  • a rapidly increasing carbon tax.
Read more at carbonindependent.org/185.html


Started: 14 Nov 2024
Last updated: 18 Feb 2025     Page No: 166