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Reasons to be very concerned

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

Human activity has changed the climate
  • the effects are cumulative and mostly irreversible
  • the scale of harm being done by climate change is horrific
  • this makes continued burning of fossil fuels morally indefensible
Action on climate change is very urgent but 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 now close to 1.5°C
Government actions have not been in line with the promises given
  • government actions are completely at variance with the speed of change needed
Governments cannot be trusted on important questions
  • they have a poor record of decision making
  • 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 who are very aware of the situation are very vocal and not deterred by long prison sentences.

Human activity has changed the climate

  • the burning of fossil fuels has increased the atmospheric level of CO2, and this has lead to increased temperatures, droughts, storms and floods
  • the effects are cumulative and mostly irreversible
  • the scale of harms being done makes continued burning of fossil fuels morally indefensible
    • it is the richest countries that are generating the CO2 emissions and the poorest countries that are suffering the worst effects
    • the lifetime emissions from six average UK residents are sufficient to cause one climate-related death, and probably several refugees [1]
    • current debates over ending the use of fossil fuels are akin to the debate in the UK in the 1830s over whether to end slavery
    • if global warming reaches 2°C,
      most coral reefs will have been permanently lost
      .
  • as the temperature rises, there is an increasing risk of reaching tipping points, i.e. points at which large irreversible catastrophic changes will occur, such as changes in ocean currents.

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 rapidly 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
  • if the original climate target limit of 1.5°C has to be replaced by 1.6°C, there will be an estimate 400 million more climate deaths, of which the UK will be responsible for 300,000 deaths [2].

Government actions have not been in line with the promises given

  • government actions are completely at variance with the speed of change needed
    • there has been continued road building and airport expansion
    • the need to insulate houses has been largely ignored
  • 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

Governments have a poor record of decision making on important questions

e.g. in the UK, there is a recurring pattern of wasting billions on ineffective policies and ignoring effective policies
  • errors in the preparation for pandemics
  • errors in procurement at the start of the covid-19 pandemic
  • errors in procuring NHS IT.

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.
      "
    • and has
      praised protesters for sounding the alarm
  • climate protesters are very vocal and not deterred by long prison sentences.
But governments are attempting to stifle protests rather than answer the protesters' concerns and correct the errors made.

References

[1]https://www.carbonindependent.org/144.html
[2]https://carbonindependent.org/carbonbudgets.php


First published: 13 Feb 2025
Last updated: 23 Mar 2025     Page No: 183