The Climate Emergency Plan calls for a total transformation of the consumption-oriented way of life that has evolved around an economic system involving production for profit on the one hand and escalating demand for both essential items and luxuries on the other. Can humankind do it?
The Club of Rome’s Climate Emergency Plan, unveiled on November 24, 2018, comes in the wake of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Special Report on Climate Change of 1.5°C, released on October 7, 2018. It provides yet another reminder that humankind stands on the threshold of disaster. Authored by Sandrine Dixson-Decleve, Ian Dunlop and Anders Wijkman with support from Martin Hedberg and Till Kellerhoff, it gives an idea of the immediacy of the threat when it states with reference to climate change, “Until recently, it was seen as a future threat. Today, it is a reality affecting the lives of millions. In the 21st Century, more than any other issue, it will dictate the long-term prosperity and security of nations, and of the planet.”
The devastating consequences of climate change are well-known and include flooding of coastal areas, destruction of coral reefs, extinction and/or migration of marine species, drastically fluctuating weather patterns, floods, droughts, migration and/or extinction of birds and animals to escape climate conditions rendered inhospitable and drastic changes in agriculture as cropping patterns change in keeping with changing climate conditions.
The migration inland of millions of people from flooded coastal areas would cause tension, and even violent clashes, between locals and new comers. Forest fires following droughts can wipe out towns, as in the case of Paradise in California in the United States, and cause serious damage to lives and livelihoods; so can the increasingly frequent flash floods and cyclones. With the pattern of agriculture affected, the problem of food security and sufficiency would become acute.
All this is widely known. The question is: What is to be done? The Club of Rome’s report says, “To avoid worst outcomes, global emission [of Greenhouse Gases] must be cut by half by 2030, and to zero by 2050. This is an unprecedented task, requiring a reduction rate of at least seven per cent annually; no country has achieved more than 1.5 per cent previously. The only possible response is emergency action to transform our social, economic and financial systems.” It also asks the industrialised countries to implement their commitment at the Paris climate summit to provide a minimum of US $100 billion annually to low income countries to support low-carbon technology development and adaptation-the chances of which happening are clearly dim following the United State’s withdrawal from the Paris Accord.
The Club of Rome’s is a comprehensive multi-dimensional plan of action that calls for a transformation of the entire energy system. It calls for ending new investments in coal, oil and gas exploration after 2020, and a total phasing out of the existing fossil fuel industry by 2050. It also calls for a continuance of the doubling of the world’s capacity to generate wind and solar energy every four years, and a tripling of investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies for high Greenhouse Gas emitting sectors before 2025
The plan calls for the “introduction of realistic pricing and taxation to reflect the true cost of fossil fuel use” and materials and products with embedded carbon, and the direction of tax revenue to “research, development and innovation for low-carbon solutions.” Human progress, it says, has to be measured not in terms of production growth but of a Genuine Progress Indicator relating to welfare and well-being. The Club of Rome calls for the acceleration of the development and use of transformational technologies pertaining to the improved management of refrigerants by 2020, and exponential technology development to contain carbon emission in sectors like agriculture, aviation, transport and the production of carbon-intensive materials like aluminum, steel and cement, which now account for 20 per cent of carbon emissions globally. These could contribute, by 2040, up to 40 per cent of the global emissions unless controlled through, innovation, materials substitution, energy efficiency, renewable energy supply and circular material flows.
The broad sweep of the recommendations includes accelerated implementation of regenerative land use policies including the protection and maintenance of healthy forests and a tripling of the annual investment in Reforestation Initiatives in Developing (REDD) Countries. Particularly significant is its emphasis on keeping population growth under control by not only enabling 120 million more women to use contraceptives but transforming the relationship between men and women, empowering women to make choices about reproduction, family size and timing. The importance of this becomes clear on recalling that human activity in all its aspects is the defining cause of global warming.
What the Climate Emergency Plan calls for is a total transformation of the consumption-oriented way of life that has evolved around an economic system involving production for profit on the one hand and escalating demand for both essential items and luxuries on the other. Integral to the process has been an increasingly extravagant use of the earth’s resources and processes involving high carbon emissions. The focus henceforth has to be on satisfaction of needs. This, in turn, would require a fundamental change in economic goals, means and processes of production, distribution systems, functions like marketing and advertising, means of global travel and transportation — to mention the easily recountable aspects. Both individuals and countries have to extensively prioritise their preferences. The question is: Can humankind do it?
(The writer is Consultant Editor, The Pioneer, and an author)
