The Future we Choose
I attended a talk with Christiana Figueres at Web Summit 2019 and immediately resonated with the strong and urgent speech. During the talk, Figueres compared the process of decarbonization to a highway, where some are moving faster, others slower. And the United States is the stopped car on the side. Still, she highlighted that 60% of the US economy is decarbonizing.
Three days Iater, I added her book "The Future We Choose", co-authored with Tom Rivett-Carnac, to my "want-to-read list". The authors were responsible for conducting negotiations that led to the 2015 Paris Agreement, an historical achievement. The goal is to cap the global temperature to 1.5ºC, until 2050.
Recently, I've been immersed in the environmental and social practices of Patagonia, an outdoor clothing brand, and I felt the urge to learn more about the issue and decided it was time to pick the book.
“To have at least a 50 percent chance of success (which in itself is an unacceptably high level of risk), we must cut global emissions to half their current levels by 2030, half again by 2040, and finally to net zero by 2050 at the very latest.”
The additional consequences associated with small increases above 1.5ºC are disastrous. At a 2ºC increase, the exposed people to climate risks and poverty rises from 62 to 457 million — higher food prices, income loss, water scarcity, food insecurity, adverse health impacts. The rise of sea-level will obliterate several cities, forcing a migration crisis never before experienced. Face-masks are not a transient phase, and might well be used indoors too. Hot, heavy, and clogged air.
It's not like we have much choice but to choose a different outcome.
“The planet will continue to exist, possibly in a very different way. The question is: will we continue to be able to live here?”
We already have all the resources to avoid the escalation of this crisis. But we, as individuals, need to change habits.