Plastic waste pollutes the ocean

It’s time to make peace with nature, the UN Secretary General said in a UN report on the State of Global Climate on December 3. He described the fight against the climate crisis as the top priority of the 21st century because there is no vaccine for the planet.

Alarming figures

The report said 2020 is on track to be one of the three hottest on record. The global mean temperature for January to October 2020 was 1.2°C above the 1850–1900 baseline. Extreme temperatures, severe droughts, forest fires, and storms were recorded in 2020, while sea levels marked new peaks.

The global ecosystem is threatened with more than 1 million species facing risk of distinction. Deserts have expanded and swamps have disappeared. Every year the earth loses about 10 million ha of forests. Air and water pollution are responsible for about 9 million deaths annually. Natural catastrophes with direct links to climate change cost the world 150 billion USD in 2019.

The medical journal The Lancet said climate change will cause more pandemics in the future. In fact many countries are facing increasing health threats. The last two decades have seen a 54% increase in heat-related deaths among the elderly. In 2018 alone nearly 300,000 people died due to extreme temperatures.

The UN has called on all countries to take drastic action on climate change and on all individuals to stop abusing nature. 2021 could be our last chance to stop overexploiting natural resources and begin healing and protecting the planet.

The UN has called on all nations to abide by the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, commit to net zero emission, and support climate change response.

Cars travel near a forest fire in California, the US in August 2020. (photo: Getty images)

The world works together

To mark the 5^th anniversary of the Paris Agreement on climate change, a conference called “Climate Ambition” will take place on Saturday to discuss a roadmap toward climate goals. Britain, who will co-host the conference with the UN, has committed to a more ambitious target if cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 68% from 1990 levels by 2030 and  achieve "net zero" greenhouse gases by 2050. Last month Prime Minister Boris Johnson introduced a green industrial revolution plan to tackle climate change and generate about 250,000 jobs. The plan will ban the sale of petro and diesel cars, increase offshore wind energy 400%, and raise hydrogen production capacity in the next decade. China, the EU, Japan, and South Korea have also committed to work toward zero greenhouse gases.

The UN report said countries have fulfilled just 15% of their commitments on greenhouse gas emission under the Paris agreement to keep the global temperature at a safe level and reduce CO2 emissions 7.6% a year over the next decade.