✖
The climate situation, at the end of 2024
Hover or click on highlighted text for more information
Action on climate change is not going according to plan:
- in the Paris Agreement, countries made commitments to keep climate change within defined limits, which means phasing out fossil fuels
- the scientific advice was that these commitments require "rapid and far-reaching transitions"throughout society
- the urgency of action is given by the global carbon budgetfor 1.5°C running out in 2030, and even sooner in developed countries e.g. 2026 for the UK
- the climate has changed particularly rapidly in the last few years suggesting that even more urgent change is needed.
- 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 completely at variance with the speed of change needed, e.g. in the UK, the Labour Government has recently
- committed billions of pounds to unproven technology that will not make a difference for many years, if ever
- kept fuel duty unchanged
- there is no general discussion of the imminent exhaustion of the carbon budget - inadequate government timescales dominate discussions and are not being challenged
- even climate campaigners are understating the size and urgency of changes needed, and advocating inadequate policies
- the flawed campaigning seems to be not just misunderstanding but a form of climate denial.
There is an urgent need for honest discussion of the options based on the science.
Started: 14 Nov 2024
Last updated: 17 Dec 2024 Page No 166