It’s 10 years since the groundbreaking Paris Agreement in 2015, so how did we do? We all know we’re way off target and there’s a huge amount yet to be achieved but it may still be worth reminding ourselves of the positives that bring hope for the future. Among these, of course, was the call for local authorities to declare a climate emergency, which incidentally led to the formation of MCA.
To get a dispassionate overview of the progress and what still needs to be done, we’ve looked at the report 10 Years Post-Paris: A decade that defied predictions produced by the ECIU (Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit).
It compares what was expected then with what’s been achieved now — tracking progress across clean energy, policy, emissions, jobs and more. The report is full of graphs and images illustrating the progress that has been made and debunking the gloomiest predictions of the naysayers.
Nevertheless, they acknowledge that we still have a long way to go to limit heating to ‘well below 2°C’, with ‘every fraction of a degree mattering’. We in the UK are not exempt from climate uncertainty, with our news feeds full of floods, a shortfall in British wheat and possibly the threat of Canadian style winters as a key Atlantic current known as the AMOC (Atlantic meridional overturning circulation) continues to weaken.
The key for now is to keep going and ignore the siren calls from those who think we should restart drilling or just pretend it will all go away. Also, how much of this is down to the consumer? We can all do our bit but ultimately the heavy lifting needs to be done by governments, industry, corporations, legal entities, banks and financial institutions. Our best contribution may be to consider carefully how we vote, spend and invest.
Despite being long, the report is very accessible. We strongly recommend it to anyone seriously interested in the topic. See more for a few snippets.
