The global climate community experienced unprecedented levels of collaboration yesterday when world leadership unveiled a landmark agreement to accelerate the transition to renewable energy. This BreakingNews arrives at a moment of critical significance when extreme weather events are reimagining communities around the world.
Record-breaking heat waves have impacted Europe for the third summer in succession, with temperatures reaching unprecedented heights and soaring above 40°C in regions usually considered to have temperate weather. Conversely, catastrophic flooding in South Asia displaced over two million people and underscored the necessity for collective action at a global scale. What scientists have long been sounding the alarm about has now arrived at our shores. Climate change is not a future risk, but rather a current reality affecting millions.
The newly signed agreement specifically requires that signer countries will triple their renewable energy capacity by 2030. Energy ministers of 47 signatory countries agreed to start phasing out coal-fired power plants and to invest heavily in wind, solar and hydro properties. This is the most ambitious climate commitment since the Paris Agreement, where legally binding targets make countries accountable for accountability for their green pledges.
Next BreakingNews points out that many of the leading economies are already. Denmark produces almost 120% of its electricity requirement from wind, selling the leftovers to its neighbours. China, which happens to be the world's biggest polluter, put up more solar panels in one year than every other country in the world combined. These success stories demonstrate that rapid decarbonisation is not only feasible, but it is economically viable.
That said, the route is still difficult. Small island states are under existential threat due to rising seas. The Maldives has already begun moving entire villages, while Pacific island states are seeing intrusion of saltwater in their fresh water supplies. These communities on the frontlines represent an early-warning system for what all coastal cities around the world could face.
The economic hit is huge. Insurers note that climate related damaging events exceeded $100 billion last year globally. Agricultural industries are changing as a result of shifting growing seasons and extreme precipitation events. California farmers are trying out drought-resistant crops, and Arctic residents face melting permafrost which is threatening the integrity of their infrastructure.
Youth activists are organized for schöner, amassing popular protests before heads-of-state. Due to a growing cohort of concerned generations, young, old and in between, activism appeals to the institutions and structures that are invariably producing greater climate destruction than they are able to mitigate. This is evident in the increasing use of social media campaigns that have successfully shifted climate change discourse from the non-commitment of ivory towers to a popular form of discourse that has actually influenced political choice.
The tech industry is changing with new solutions. Artificial intelligence is now being used as a tool for optimizing energy grid usage that elicits waste and efficiencies out of grids unlike any replacement energy system in history. Carbon capture is being scaled, with scientists disagreeing whether this is appropriate and only a replacement for addressing emissions directly. Electric cars are transitioning the world at a dizzying pace, with some intermittent states suggesting bans on internal combustion engines in less than a decade.
The BreakingNews to this moment is human demonstrations and manifestations of concerted action in the face of existential threat. The short months ahead will put disciplined resolve to the test, as nations begin to establish their on-paper commitments while people in vulnerable nations begin to continue engage with and feel the now real impacts of climate change.
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