An advocacy group of researchers, business-people and NGOs called Drawdown found that getting rid of HFCs chemicals used in fridges and air conditioning was the number-one most effective policy to reduce emissions. The good news is that we have made global progress on this, and two years ago countries agreed to start phasing out HFCs in You can.
Individuals need to exercise their rights both as citizens and as consumers , Robert and other experts say, putting pressure on their governments and on companies to make the system-wide changes that are needed. By getting rid of financial instruments related to the fossil fuel industry, organisations can both take climate action and reap economic benefits.
Going car-free was the number-one most effective action an individual could take except not having kids — but more on that on that later. Cars are more polluting compared to other means of transportation like walking, biking or using public transport.
One ranking found that going car-free is the most effective action one person can take Credit: Getty. In industrialised countries such as European nations, getting rid of your car can reduce 2. Actually, renewables like wind and solar are becoming increasingly cheap across the world although final costs are subject to local circumstances. The latest report from the International Renewable Energy Agency Irena found that several of the most commonly used renewables, like solar, geothermal, bioenergy, hydropower and onshore wind, will be on par with or cheaper than fossil fuels by Some are already more cost-effective.
Solar energy is now the cheapest source of electricity for many households in Latin America, Asia and Africa Credit: Getty. In the UK, onshore wind and solar are competitive with gas and by will be the cheapest source of electricity generation.
In fact, after fossil fuels, the food industry — and in particular the meat and dairy sector — is one of the most important contributors to climate change.
The meat industry contributes to global warming in three major ways. Secondly, we feed them with other potential sources of food, like maize and soy, which makes for a very inefficient process.
And finally, they also require lots of water, fertilisers that can release greenhouse gases, and plenty of land — some of which come from cleared forests, another source of carbon emissions. A larger-scale approach could be something like banning meat across an organisation, as office-sharing company WeWork did in This explainer of sustainable diets by the World Resources Institute WIR and its longer associated report provides more answers to questions about food and carbon emissions.
Although some early efforts to use solar panels to fly around the world have had success, we are still decades away from commercial flights running on solar energy. A normal transatlantic round-trip flight can release around 1. The measures and technologies to reduce short-lived climate pollutants are available today and are practical, technically feasible, and cost-effective. Putting them in place can bring immediate climate benefits, help achieve many global sustainable development goals SDGs , and improve the health and livelihoods of millions.
Many air pollutants also cause global warming Delayed efforts to mitigate either carbon dioxide or short-lived climate pollutant emissions will have negative, and potentially irreversible, consequences for global warming, rising sea levels, food security, and public health.
Reducing short-lived climate pollutants provides other significant benefits. These include preventing millions of premature deaths annually, improving food security by avoiding tens-of-millions of tonnes of annual staple crop losses, protecting vital ecosystems and ecosystem services, reducing the risk of dangerous and irreversible climate tipping points, and making significant contributions to achieving the Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Widespread actions to reduce short-lived climate pollutants can prevent 0. We're not talking about one or the other. A warmer climate increases public health challenges like heat aggravated illnesses, increases in vector borne diseases, and decreased access to safe water and food. Cutting short-lived climate pollutants can slow the rate of warming and lower public health risks. Short-lived climate pollutants like tropospheric ozone O 3 and black carbon a component of fine particulate matter or PM 2.
Reducing them will prevent millions of premature deaths each year from air pollution. The biggest benefits will be felt locally, with the greatest health benefits expected in Asia.
Short-lived climate pollutants and health. Rising temperatures threaten food security. Scientists are also working on ways to sustainably produce hydrogen, most of which is currently derived from natural gas, to feed zero-emission fuel cells for transportation and electricity.
Other efforts are aimed at building better batteries to store renewable energy; engineering a smarter electric grid; and capturing carbon dioxide from power plants and other sources with the goal of storing it underground or turning it into valuable products such as gasoline.
Some people argue that nuclear power—despite concerns over safety, water use, and toxic waste—should also be part of the solution, because nuclear plants don't contribute any direct air pollution while operating. While halting new greenhouse gas emissions is critical, scientists have also emphasized that we need to extract existing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
An iceberg melts in the waters off Antarctica. Climate change has accelerated the rate of ice loss across the continent. But planting trees, restoring seagrasses, and boosting the use of agricultural cover crops could help clean up significant amounts of carbon dioxide.
Restoring forests already chopped down in Brazil, for example, could draw about 1. Those are relatively modest numbers given historic carbon emissions of 2. Communities around the world are already recognizing that adaptation must also be part of the response to climate change. From flood-prone coastal towns to regions facing increased droughts and fires, a new wave of initiatives focuses on boosting resilience.
Those include managing or preventing land erosion, building microgrids and other energy systems built to withstand disruptions, and designing buildings with rising sea levels in mind. Recent books such as Drawdown and Designing Climate Solutions have proposed bold and comprehensive yet simple plans for reversing our current course. The ideas vary, but the message is consistent: We already have many of the tools needed to address climate change.
Some of the concepts are broad ones that governments and businesses must implement, but many other ideas involve changes that anyone can make— eating less meat , for example, or rethinking your modes of transport.
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