The IPCC report from 2018 stated that we have a window of 12 years to take drastic action to cut down our CO2 emissions. If we don't succeed, and the earth keeps warming more, the consequences will be extreme and difficult to live in and survive, for most people and for the rest of the natural world. There are already thousands of species that have gone extinct.
According to science, we have 11 years left to prevent these extreme conditions.
However, new reports are saying that the political steps to enable the cuts to carbon to take place will have to happen before the end of 2021....15 months from October 2019.
The global average temperature, that now is 1,2 degrees higher than it was pre-industrialisation, needs to not rise more than 1,5 degrees.
If it does rise more than 1.5 degrees – and some say this is inevitable - there is a real risk of “run away” processes and self-reinforcing feedback loops that will further increase and speed up the global warming - causing the ice to melt faster, more and deeper draughts in big areas of Africa and other parts of the world, and more and bigger cyclones like Idiai and Kenneth that recently devastated Mozambique.
You can read more about this situation here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-48964736
We are very late in addressing Global Warming and Climate Change.
So now, when it is “2 minutes to 12”...what can we do then?
There are many things we can do!
- Inform ourselves. We have been thoroughly misinformed about these facts for a long time. We all need to have a basic understanding of what Climate Change is and what it will mean for our world
- Get organised. Put pressure on politicians and corporations to act to reduce emissions drastically, and mitigate the effects.
- Grow food! We will need it. Start garden farming where you live, help to strengthen the food security of the future. Globalised transport of masses of food from one part of the world to the other will not continue for ever.
- Take care of the nature and the people in your local environment. For example, campaign against further “development” such as fracking for oil and gas, and plant trees to increase CO2 absorption and help prevent floods.
- Take action in solidarity with people in countries hard hit in Africa and Asia. There is a lot of good work going on to improve living conditions and fight hunger and climate change. Volunteers from many countries and organisations, including us here at CICD and our partners, continue to support the work of strengthening and informing local communities, helping to improve farming and water systems, running health campaigns and clinics, starting schools and training more teachers ..and so on!
- Create all kinds of humanising activities to fight against the divisions between us. To create the glue between people, that is often missing in our society – building community and togetherness between people, and this way fighting the alienation and individualism. To win we have to work together!
There is much going on! Read more here for some examples:
Food production
Education
CICD Garden Farm
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