{"id":42904,"date":"2020-12-09T19:42:44","date_gmt":"2020-12-09T19:42:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/?p=42904"},"modified":"2020-12-09T19:42:44","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T19:42:44","slug":"climate-change-2020-wrapped-and-why-you-should-be-worried","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/climate-change-2020-wrapped-and-why-you-should-be-worried\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate change: 2020 wrapped and why you should be worried"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week marks five years since the notable Paris Agreement of 2015, yet 2020 looks ill-fated with regards to the environment.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2020 has been a significant year in terms of climate change with record-breaking CO2<\/sub>\u00a0levels and serious threats to World Heritage Sites.\u00a0With Covid-19 taking centre-stage in world news and everyone’s lives, climate change has slowly gotten worse under the radar.<\/p>\n

World Heritage Sites<\/h3>\n

According to the IUCN<\/a>‘s latest report<\/a>, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has been categorised as “critical” in terms of conservation status. The cause?\u00a0A combination of ocean acidification, increased ocean temperatures, and extreme weather.<\/p>\n

The IUCN finds that climate change poses a threat to 33 per cent of natural World Heritage Sites. The COVID-19 pandemic led to a decline in tourism and there was less pressure on ecosystems. However, the pandemic did not improve the already existing issues in these natural sites.<\/p>\n

Plastic<\/h3>\n

Break Free From Plastic<\/a> has recently released its\u00a0annual audit<\/a> naming Coca Cola the biggest plastic polluter of 2020 for the third year in a row. Second down the list of corporate polluters is Pepsi Co, Nestle is third, fourth is Unilever and Mondelez Internation falls to fifth place on the list.<\/p>\n

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BREAKING: @cocacola<\/a>, @PepsiCo<\/a>, @Nestle<\/a>, @Unilever<\/a> & @MDLZ<\/a> are the TOP 5 corporate plastic polluters of 2020. It\u2019s the 3rd time they\u2019ve been on the TOP 10 list!<\/p>\n

We demand REAL accountability. \ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffe#BreakFreeFromPlastic<\/a> #BrandAudit2020<\/a> Report is out now! \ud83d\udc49https:\/\/t.co\/DfnZk47Zd8<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/8eIKJArxF6<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 breakfreefromplastic (@brkfreeplastic) December 2, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wildfires<\/h3>\n

2020 has seen the biggest wildfire season in California’s modern history with 9279 fires and 4.2 million acres burned down, equivalent to more than 108 times the size of London.<\/p>\n

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2020 will go down as Southern California’s smoggiest year since the mid-1990s, despite dramatic reductions in driving. How climate-fueled heat waves, wildfires and changing emissions worsened L.A.’s ozone pollution during the pandemic: https:\/\/t.co\/YO3ydtnEtH<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/FAymdiljdu<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Tony Barboza (@tonybarboza) December 7, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

CO2<\/sub> emissions<\/h3>\n

In 2020, CO2<\/sub> levels reached a record of 418.32 parts per million in the atmosphere. Data from the International Energy Agency<\/a> shows that the top polluting countries by CO2<\/sub> emissions this year are China, the United States, India, Russia, and Japan. The United Kingdom is 17th on this list.<\/p>\n

Today, UNEP released its annual Emissions Gap report<\/a>, according to which\u00a0“despite a dip in CO2 emissions caused by the pandemic, the world is still heading for a temperature rise in excess of 3\u00b0C this century.”<\/p>\n

However, a “green pandemic recovery could cut up to 25 per cent off predicted 2030 greenhouse gas emissions.”<\/p>\n

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Latest @UNEP<\/a> #EmissionsGap<\/a> report shows that despite a dip in CO2 emissions caused by the pandemic, the world is still heading for a temperature rise in excess of 3\u00b0C this century.<\/p>\n

A green #COVID19<\/a> recovery is essential to close the #ClimateAction<\/a> gap. https:\/\/t.co\/WcMum8oH5M<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 United Nations (@UN) December 9, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Global temperature<\/h3>\n

The average global temperature is at 1.2 \u00b0C degrees, which is 0.3 short of reaching the 1.5 \u00b0C, which was said to be the limit by the IPCC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Allowing the global temperature to temporarily exceed or \u2018overshoot\u2019 1.5 \u00b0C\u00a0would mean a greater reliance on techniques that remove CO2<\/sub> from the air to return global temperature to below 1.5 \u00b0C\u00a0by 2100.”<\/p>\n

Fossil fuel<\/h3>\n

According to the UN’s 2020\u00a0Production Gap Report<\/a>, the world must reduce fossil fuel production by 6 per cent per year until 2030 if we want to meet the goals set in 5 years ago in Paris and avoid the worst global warming.<\/p>\n

“Countries are instead planning and projecting an average annual increase of 2 per cent,\u00a0which by 2030 would result in more than double the production consistent with the 1.5\u00b0C limit.”<\/p>\n

The report was released for the second time earlier in December, and it is aiming to monitor the developments made since the Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n

The Climate Ambition Summit<\/a> will take place on 12 December 2020 to mark the fifth anniversary of the Paris pledges. The United Nations, United Kingdom, and France will co-host the virtual event with Chile and Italy on board as well.<\/p>\n

During the summit, parties are set to demonstrate their commitment to the Paris Agreement and come up with new strategies to reach long-term zero-net emissions.<\/p>\n

The European Council is also set to meet this Thursday and Friday to discuss “new emissions reduction targets for 2030” among other important issues.<\/p>\n

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A busy agenda lies ahead for EU leaders at the European Council meeting this Thursday and Friday:<\/p>\n

\u2611\ufe0f COVID-19
\n\u2611\ufe0f climate change
\n\u2611 external relations with \ud83c\uddf9\ud83c\uddf7 and \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8
\n\u2611\ufe0f security and fight against terrorism<\/p>\n

\u25b6\ufe0f Meeting info: https:\/\/t.co\/t2562oe9Y5<\/a>#EUCO<\/a>#COVID19<\/a>pic.twitter.com\/TU0zTWrss6<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 EU Council (@EUCouncil) December 9, 2020<\/a><\/p>\n

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Read more about climate change:<\/em><\/p>\n