What we want to happen on climate change
“Climate change is not just a moral question: it is the moral question of the 21st century” Monbiot, 2006
According to the World Bank economist Sir Nicholas Stern, we can spend 1% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) now to combat climate change – or pay 20% later, a deferment that is likely to plunge us into severe worldwide recession.
This is because climate change threatens to tip us into what is classified as ‘dangerous’ runaway warming, due to triggers such as the melting of the Greenland ice sheet or the collapse of the Amazon rainforest, if the planet’s temperature is not kept from rising more than 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
Stern claims that we are most likely to avoid this tipping point by reducing our worldwide greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 (from 1990 levels). Many policy makers are now arguing that wealthier countries must take on a larger share of the responsibility for reducing emissions, increasing this target to 90% for countries such as Canada.
The greater part of the cut in emissions has to be made at the beginning of this period. To see why, picture two graphs with time on the horizontal axis and the rate of emissions plotted vertically. One falls like a ski jump (Figure 1): a steep drop followed by a shallow tail. The other falls like the trajectory of a bullet (Figure 2). To the bottom left of each line is the total volume of greenhouse gases produced in that period. They fall to the same point by the same date, but far more gases have been produced in the second case, making runaway climate change more likely.
| Figure 1. | Figure 2. |
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The good news is that solutions to reducing emissions exist, and this target can be reached if enough of us have the will to make it happen.
The will to make it happen, to make such deep cuts in GHG emissions, must take place at all levels - individually, as well as at the municipal, provincial and national levels of government.
Take Action in Your Own Life
It all starts with ourselves – we must accept that we have the responsibility of informing ourselves and thinking about what we can do in our own lives to reduce our impact on the climate. Then we must act – one step at a time. Here are some ideas on what we can do in our own lives.
Take Action as a Voter
However, actions in our own lives
are not sufficient to make the dramatic reductions in emissions that are
required. Our governments must take immediate, effective action through
policies, programs, regulations, and the provision of incentives and disincentives.
This requires us to exercise our power as voters.
We must let our politicians know
that climate change is the most important issue of all right now for us
as voters – after all, we only have one, or at most, two more election
cycles to get it right; after that, it will be too late. We must tell
them that our vote goes to the party with the most ambitious targets and
the most effective plan for reducing GHG emissions.
A Vancouver-based group called
Voters Taking Action on Climate Change (VTACC) has produced lawn signs
that can be used for any election - or even between elections! We will
be selling them at our Wheels for Change booth, or you can order them
here:
Here is what the sign says:
We are also designing postcards
that can be sent to politicians at all levels of government. We will have
them at our Wheels for Change booth, or you can download them here (Link
Coming Soon).
Here are some ideas on what we
can ask our municipal, provincial or national governments to do.
Ask
Your Municipal Government to Take Action
Ask
Your Provincial Government to Take Action
Ask Your National Government to Take Action