Global Heat Reduction Initiative’s Post

Did you know that half of all global warming isn't caused by CO2 but by climate super pollutants like methane, black carbon and HFCs? you can learn all about it during our webinar on 12/12.

The 1.5°C target has been a rallying cry for climate action, symbolising the urgency and ambition needed to address climate change.  Even if the target is difficult to achieve, keeping it as a goal drives more ambitious actions to mitigate the worst impacts of the climate crisis.  Maintaining the 1.5°C target also keep political and public support for climate action, which is crucial for implementing effective policies.  Many scientists argue that the 1.5°C target is no longer realistic, given current emission trends and the lack of sufficient action.  According to recent studies, the world is already 1.49°C hotter than pre-industrial levels, and it is likely to exceed 1.5°C within the next few years.  Greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, with a projected increase of 0.8% in 2024, reaching a record 37.4 billion tonnes of CO2. On the other hand, the cost of not meeting the 1.5°C climate goal is significant and multifaceted.  Higher temperatures lead to more frequent and severe weather events, such as hurricanes, heatwaves, droughts, and floods.  Many species are unable to adapt to rapid climate changes, leading to a loss of biodiversity.  Warming temperatures cause polar ice to melt, contributing to rising sea levels.  These extreme weather events and sea level rise causes significant damage to infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, and buildings.  Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns affect crop yields, leading to food shortages and increased food prices.  Food security challenges impact health and quality of life. Higher temperatures and increased air pollution can lead to a rise in heat-related illnesses and respiratory diseases.  The cost of healthcare and the loss of productivity due to illness faces significant inflation.  Climate change forces people to leave their homes due to environmental degradation, natural disasters, and resource scarcity.  This leads to social and political instability, as well as increased pressure on urban areas and services.  The impacts of climate change are felt most acutely by the poorest and most vulnerable communities, exacerbating existing inequalities and social tensions.  We are not ready for this reality. Terence Nunis Terence K. J. Nunis, Consultant President, Red Sycamore Global

The 1.5°C target has been a rallying cry for climate action, symbolising the urgency and ambition needed to address climate change.  Even if the target is difficult to achieve, keeping it as a goal drives more ambitious actions to mitigate the worst impacts of the climate crisis.  Maintaining the 1.5°C target also keep political and public support for climate action, which is crucial for implementing effective policies.  Many scientists argue that the 1.5°C target is no longer realistic, given current emission trends and the lack of sufficient action.  According to recent studies, the world is already 1.49°C hotter than pre-industrial levels, and it is likely to exceed 1.5°C within the next few years.  Greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, with a projected increase of 0.8% in 2024, reaching a record 37.4 billion tonnes of CO2. On the other hand, the cost of not meeting the 1.5°C climate goal is significant and multifaceted.  Higher temperatures lead to more frequent and severe weather events, such as hurricanes, heatwaves, droughts, and floods.  Many species are unable to adapt to rapid climate changes, leading to a loss of biodiversity.  Warming temperatures cause polar ice to melt, contributing to rising sea levels.  These extreme weather events and sea level rise causes significant damage to infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, and buildings.  Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns affect crop yields, leading to food shortages and increased food prices.  Food security challenges impact health and quality of life. Higher temperatures and increased air pollution can lead to a rise in heat-related illnesses and respiratory diseases.  The cost of healthcare and the loss of productivity due to illness faces significant inflation.  Climate change forces people to leave their homes due to environmental degradation, natural disasters, and resource scarcity.  This leads to social and political instability, as well as increased pressure on urban areas and services.  The impacts of climate change are felt most acutely by the poorest and most vulnerable communities, exacerbating existing inequalities and social tensions.  We are not ready for this reality. Terence Nunis Terence K. J. Nunis, Consultant President, Red Sycamore Global

The 1.5°C target has been a rallying cry for climate action, symbolising the urgency and ambition needed to address climate change.  Even if the target is difficult to achieve, keeping it as a goal drives more ambitious actions to mitigate the worst impacts of the climate crisis.  Maintaining the 1.5°C target also keep political and public support for climate action, which is crucial for implementing effective policies.  Many scientists argue that the 1.5°C target is no longer realistic, given current emission trends and the lack of sufficient action.  According to recent studies, the world is already 1.49°C hotter than pre-industrial levels, and it is likely to exceed 1.5°C within the next few years.  Greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, with a projected increase of 0.8% in 2024, reaching a record 37.4 billion tonnes of CO2. On the other hand, the cost of not meeting the 1.5°C climate goal is significant and multifaceted.  Higher temperatures lead to more frequent and severe weather events, such as hurricanes, heatwaves, droughts, and floods.  Many species are unable to adapt to rapid climate changes, leading to a loss of biodiversity.  Warming temperatures cause polar ice to melt, contributing to rising sea levels.  These extreme weather events and sea level rise causes significant damage to infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, and buildings.  Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns affect crop yields, leading to food shortages and increased food prices.  Food security challenges impact health and quality of life. Higher temperatures and increased air pollution can lead to a rise in heat-related illnesses and respiratory diseases.  The cost of healthcare and the loss of productivity due to illness faces significant inflation.  Climate change forces people to leave their homes due to environmental degradation, natural disasters, and resource scarcity.  This leads to social and political instability, as well as increased pressure on urban areas and services.  The impacts of climate change are felt most acutely by the poorest and most vulnerable communities, exacerbating existing inequalities and social tensions.  We are not ready for this reality. Terence Nunis Terence K. J. Nunis, Consultant President, Red Sycamore Global

I've been saying this for some time. The best reason to control or slow down human-accelerated climate change is to protect those with settled expectations and interests in how things are today, and where land is productive and valuable today. Human activity may well accelerate climate change but not in any way foundationally harmful to life (life THRIVED when the average global temperature was higher) or even human life. Opposing climate change categorically and trying to preserve everything as it is is about as unnatural and anti-evolutionary an act as anyone can commit. And eliminating fossil fuels is not even remotely the best way to slow or reverse climate change. We should conserve. We should avoid waste. But not in ways that are contrary to natural laws and forces and will almost certainly have significant and unanticipated negative consequences. So let's be a bit more thoughtful when we try to play God. Always.

Today, researchers published the second annual Global Climate Change report, finding that human-caused #globalwarming is accelerating at 0.26°C per decade. The report warns that if we continue emitting carbon dioxide at current levels, we will exceed the remaining carbon budget for 1.5°C of warming in just five years: https://lnkd.in/evz6fS_7 It's easy to read this and feel defeated. However, our CEO Sheri (Houston) Hickok shares why we should use this as motivation to act using the climate solutions available today: “This latest study must drive climate action further and faster today – using every single solution we have available. Governments must elevate climate to the top of the agenda, businesses must continue to set ambitious targets and speak proudly about the steps they are taking, and, as individuals, we must realize the power of our voices. Every action we collectively take can drive further positive action; we are all influencers." Read her full statement here: https://lnkd.in/evz6fS_7 #sustainability #EnvironmentDay #climateaction

In 2024, we’ve crossed an alarming threshold: global warming has now reached +1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. This critical limit, set by the Paris Agreement, has been breached in less than a decade after reaching +1.0°C. Before that 0.5°C steps took way longer and it’s accelerating currently. What does this mean? It signals how rapidly our climate is shifting to a climate disruption. Despite international agreements and national climate laws, such as Germany’s Climate Protection Act (KSG), global CO₂ emissions remain at a dangerously high level of around 40 billion tons per year. Meanwhile, atmospheric CO₂ concentrations have reached an alarming 420 ppm. The measures taken so far are simply not enough to curb climate change. The consequences are dire: with each additional degree of warming, the likelihood of irreversible tipping points in our climate system increases – from the melting of ice sheets to more frequent extreme weather events. The result? Millions of climate refugees out of a sauna belt forming itself around the equator and unpredictable economic and social disruptions. What we need now is radical change. It’s no longer just about setting climate goals – we need swift, decisive action. Immediate CO₂ emissions reduction to 1960s levels is essential on a very short term, along with technologies that actively remove CO₂ from the atmosphere. Above that net zero is urgehtly necessary within the next years to decade. Only then can we hope to prevent breaching the +2.0°C threshold, which would bring catastrophic, irreversible damage. Because of the latency of the effect of CO₂ +2.0°C could already be sealed right now and we are heading towards +3.0°C by the mid of this century. Is this utopian to achieve the transition right now. Most probably yes. But what lies ahead could be far more dystopian than anything we’ve imagined. Nature doesn’t negotiate and doesn’t wait until we are prepared or „ready enough“ for the transition. The future of our planet, and generations to come, is being decided now. #ClimateChange #EnergyTransition #Sustainability #ClimateCrisis #CO2Reduction #ParisAgreement #SaunaBelt #ClimateDisruption

As the impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly tangible and evident and climate action is lagging, the world has to ask itself what the real costs of inaction are. Our joint work with Cambridge Judge Business School and the ClimaTRACES lab concludes clearly: way too high. Based on recent literature, our current trajectory of ~3°C global warming threatens up to 22% of cumulative GDP until 2100. These economic impacts will be felt across sectors and geographies and are most likely underestimated as they don’t account for tail risks from climate tipping points, nor include the unquantifiable damage from human suffering and environmental losses. But we have a choice. By fully committing to the Paris agreement and thus accelerating mitigation investments to change our path to a <2°C trajectory, and increasing adaptation action to reduce current and future impacts from residual warming, we can save 10-15% of cumulative GDP by 2100. It is integral to include this cost of inaction in decision making today and make the economic case of climate action as transparent and actionable as possible. For further details, kindly read our joint work (and watch out for the full report we’ll be launching later this year!): https://lnkd.in/eA7jnk7f It has been great to join the team on this work: @Sylvain Santamarta, @Annika Zawadzki, @Hamid Maher, @Amine Benayad, @Edmond Rhys Jones, @Lars Holm, @Annalena Hagenauer and @Kamiar Mohaddes from Cambridge University. #ClimateWeek #ClimateAction #ClimateChange #Sustainability #CostofInaction

The concept of global warming overshoot, in which the world warms past a target and greenhouse gases are later brought back down, is baked into most energy plans. But it is a dangerous pathway that risks extinctions, amplified biodiversity loss, and more human tragedy from super storms, drought, wildfire, and other climate hazards. Assuming we can safely exceed 1.5C for a few decades and then return to lower temps puts at risk too many social and natural biophysical systems.

The magnitude and rate of climate change and associated risks depend strongly on near-term mitigation and adaptation actions, and projected adverse impacts and related losses and damages escalate with every increment of global warming.  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ChangeSome changes (such as droughts, wildfires, and extreme rainfall) are happening faster than scientists previously assessed. In fact, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) — the United Nations body established to assess the science related to climate change — modern humans have never before seen the observed changes in our global climate, and some of these changes are irreversible over the next hundreds to thousands of years.Scientists have high confidence that global temperatures will continue to rise for many decades, mainly due to greenhouse gases produced by human activities.The IPCC’s Sixth Assessment report, published in 2021, found that human emissions of heat-trapping gases have already warmed the climate by nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) since 1850-1900.1 The global average temperature is expected to reach or exceed 1.5 degrees C (about 3 degrees F) within the next few decades. These changes will affect all regions of Earth.The severity of effects caused by climate change will depend on the path of future human activities. More greenhouse gas emissions will lead to more climate extremes and widespread damaging effects across our planet. However, those future effects depend on the total amount of carbon dioxide we emit. So, if we can reduce emissions, we may avoid some of the worst effects.