04. The Syllabus: A. Understanding Sustainability and Climate Change
Fields Of Change: A Sustainability Handbook
What is COP (Conference of the Parties)?
How do we tackle climate change? It’s clear that climate change and biodiversity loss are huge global problems, caused by activities which form the basis of modern life. It is important to remember that the responsibility to take environmental action should not lie solely with individuals - governments and large corporations are the most powerful players and need to be pressured to take the lead. However, we all can take steps to lessen our contributions to environmental degradation.
CLIMATE COPS ARE ANNUAL MEETINGS ORGANISED BY THE UNITED NATIONS. COUNTRIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD SEND DELEGATIONS OF NEGOTIATORS, SCIENTISTS, AND CIVIL SERVANTS TO REACH AGREEMENTS ON ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE. Agreements reached at COPs have global authority as pretty much every nation on Earth is a signatory of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) foundation treaty, which forms the basis for the meetings. They are flawed and often frustrating, but are the only forum on climate change in which the opinions and concerns of the poorest country carry equal weight to that of the biggest economies. The most recent conference was COP28, which took place in Dubai, UAE.
Here are a few actions we can all take: • Talking, educating and inspiring others around you. • Reducing flights. • Changing to a bank that doesn’t invest in environmentally destructive practices. • Start a climate working group at your place of work. • Reduce meat intake, particularly red meat, and eat locally where possible. • Buy second hand clothes and avoid fast fashion. • Avoid general unnecessary commodity consumption such as new gadgets and clothes. However, remember that no one is perfect - do not let perfect be the enemy of good. What is important is that we all appreciate the scale of the problem, adjust our behaviours to become more sustainable, and put pressure on those in power to make it easier for us to do so.
When hearing about climate change, you might hear about numbers and targets such as 1.5°C, 2°C, 2030, and 2050… but what are the significance of these numbers? In short, at COP21 in Paris in 2015 it was internationally agreed that we must keep global average temperature rise “well below 2 degrees Celsius” and ideally “below 1.5 degrees Celsius”, compared to pre-industrial levels 22 . 1.5°C might sound like a small amount, but remember that this is a global average - and a change of this magnitude in the global average temperature will cause significant changes to the world’s climatic systems. The 1.5°C target exists as warming above this level would see catastrophic consequences, with the world potentially passing climate ‘tipping points’. These impacts are likely to be even more severe in a 2°C warmer world.
25
26
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator