Humanity is still failing to take meaningful climate action despite continuing advances in climate science

by Diane Jones

With each passing year, the prognosis for tackling our climate crisis seems to get grimmer. Despite decades of pledges, global emissions are still on the rise, and the gap between current actions and what’s needed to meet critical targets has continued to widen. More people seem to be appreciating that taking meaningful climate action can’t just be about switching energy sources — it must be about totally rethinking a linear economic system that assumes endless growth and consumption. How did we get here, and what do we need to do to get on a path to a more sustainable future?

Author Jason Hickel took a stab at answering those questions four years ago with a book called Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World, which does a good job summarizing the climate crisis and the need for a radically different mindset.

The first international climate summit was held in 1979. NASA climate scientist James Hansen gave his landmark testimony to the US Congress in 1988, explaining how the combustion of fossil fuels was driving climate breakdown. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in 1992 to set non-binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions. The UN Conferences of Parties, COP, have been held annually since 1995 to negotiate plans for emissions reductions. The 2024 meeting is currently underway — it began on November 11th and will run until November 22nd.

Although we have known of the problem for years, global carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, while ecosystems continue to unravel, like our forests.

https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2024/11/humanity-is-still-failing-to-take-meaningful-climate-action-despite-continuing-advances-in-climate-science.html