Climate change
Climate change
- Sea level rise: many cities and even countries can vanish under the sea. It is estimated that if all glaciers and ice caps melt on earth, sea level will increase around 70 meters.
- Changes in precipitation, increase in draughts, and impacting agriculture: In a perfect storm, climate change can trigger famine in many parts of the world. For example, 70% of the Nile River water could be lost due to climate change by 2100.
- Mass extinction: Up to 50% of all species globally can go extinct by 2100 due to climate change.
- Collapse of marine life: A 2°C in global earth temperature can kill all coral reefs. We are already witnessing more than a 1°C rise. Also, climate change can stop the oceanic conveyor belts, which are essential for maintaining marine life.
- Extreme weather events: hurricanes, tornadoes, typhoons, storm surges, heatwaves, floods, forest fires, etc. are already on the increase due to climate change, and will continue to increase in intensity, frequency, and distribution in the future.
What needs to be done!
To avoid the catastrophic impacts of climate change, we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. We also need to adapt to climate change impacts that are already happening. Most importantly we need to decarbonize our economy, and end the age of fossil fuels (oil, coal, and gas); and shift to 100% renewable energy.
We know the solution to climate change, and it is technologically and economically feasible to implement. The problem is political will. The good news is that millions of organizations, leaders, and individuals are already working on climate change, creating the change required in political will, but we are not moving fast enough. The question is not whether we will implement the solutions, but if we will implement them fast enough.
What we are doing!
In the past year, IndyACT focused its work on achieving a new global agreement on climate change, which contributed to the development of the Paris Climate Agreement. Now, the time of talk is over, and we need to achieve transformational change on the ground.
To do so, IndyACT is building national and regional coalitions of non-state actors (NGOs, municipalities, private sector, labor groups, etc.) to drive this transformation. It is creating and implementing national, local, and institutional climate change action plans through participatory processes, involving all relevant stakeholders.
We are integrating climate change into various sectors, including ecosystem services and nature-based solutions, security discussions, economic growth discussions, financial system (innovative financing mechanisms, sustainable carbon markets, financial risks, carbon disclosure), etc.
