The world is finally understanding the consequences of climate change on the planet. US President Joe Biden opened a climate summit of 40 world leaders and announced an ambitious goal of halving carbon emissions by 2030 while the Chinese leader set limits on coal consumption.
Biden had made climate a priority and rejoined the Paris accord just moments after becoming president. But the goals to cut carbon emissions by 52 percent in ten years is the most daunting challenge. The world needs to move away from reliance on coal and petroleum and shift to clean energy if it want to save the environment.
The summit was organized on the occasion of Earth Day. Ever since the day was observed five decades ago, there has been a steady decline in the climate crisis as population explosions and power guzzling economies rely heavily on fossil fuels. Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg told US Congress how tax breaks were still being given to fossil fuel industry calling it a ‘disgrace’. The teenager said history will hold lawmakers accountable for climate disaster if they do not stop subsidizing fossil fuel production.
It is overwhelming to think about climate change. More than 50 billion metric tonnes of greenhouse gases are emitted each year. The rapid rise in emissions have caused a climate emergency with harsh impacts such as heatwaves, floods and droughts dislocating large numbers of people with grave economic consequences. However, experts believe it is never too late to save the plant and there is still time to save humanity.
There is also a lot of misinformation about the climate crisis. Online debates on topics such as vaccines, presidential elections and even the coronavirus pandemic have led to polarizing opinions. Climate misinformation leads to sceptism and denial which the world saw during Trump’s era. Now Biden thinks climate change is a real and pressing issue that demands aggressive action.
The US cannot tackle the climate crisis. It requires cooperation of China, the world’s biggest polluter, who has pledged to go climate neutral by 2060. China leads in deploying clean energy technologies. The increase efforts will make them cheaper and enable other countries to set climate goals. Pakistan has also assured to produce 60 percent energy from renewables. The world needs to join hands on the combined goal of the climate crisis as it affects us and the planet we all share.
