Climate change still low on political agenda

Climate change is still low on political agenda and world leaders are yet again more worried about global finances than about global climate, just like this was the case in 2009. Big European debt crisis accompanied by the recent US economic woes are taking away from climate talks in Durban any chance of success.

The scientists have already issued warnings that greenhouse gases are back on rise in the atmosphere which causes faster melting of polar ice caps and increases the global sea levels.

It is almost the same scenario as in 2009, namely financial crisis is once again being used as an excuse to delay any significant climate change action. Because of the financial crisis politicians are once again unwilling to put hands in their pockets and come up with the money needed to adapt to global climate changes.

The three largest polluters in the world -China, United, States and India are extremely reluctant to commit to any significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. None of these three countries is ready to sign new climate deal yet none of these countries want to be blamed for failure in reaching new climate deal.

It seems like each of these three major polluters has some conditions under which deal should be signed. They all seem to be forgetting that climate change is global issue which means no conditionality but unity. At this moment in time global political unity certainly looks more like the utopia than actual reality.

If world fails to agree on new climate deal any time soon greenhouse gas emissions will continue to rise increasing global temperature between three and five degrees Celsius by the end of this century. Such temperature increase would forever change the life on our planet.

Let us think about the heritage we will leave to our children and grandchildren.

No optimism about climate change talks in Durban

Copenhagen 2009 – disappointment, Cancun 2010 – disappointment and Durban 2011 - you guessed again disappointment. The climate change talks in Durban, South Africa have started but expectations are very low, in fact many analysts believe that the new climate deal isn't possible in this political climate any time soon.

The Kyoto protocol expires next year and it certainly doesn't look like world leaders are ready to revive it. This is because two world's largest polluters, China and United States, the countries that hadn't even signed Kyoto protocol do not agree to carbon emission cuts.

China is still classed as a developing country and United States feels that China should oblige to same cuts as developing world. China, on the other hand, believes that United States and the rest of the developing world have mainly contributed to climate change issue and so they must oblige to larger cuts in emissions.

The fact that scientists are constantly issuing warnings that the world needs to drastically reduce the emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases doesn't seem to be giving too many sleepless nights to world leaders.

World's largest polluters are running away from new climate deal and a swift action to stave off the catastrophic effects of global warming is still nowhere on the radar.

Optimism is certainly not the word associated with the climate talks in Durban. The major players have already clearly announced their unwillingness to negotiate their positions so any hope to reach new climate deal any time soon seems to be totally lost.

Climate change will cause more extreme weather events

When thinking about the worst possible climate change scenario extreme weather events are really the first thing that comes to my mind. There are many scientists across the globe who would agree that if we fail to significantly decrease global level of carbon emissions this scenario will become our everyday's reality.

The latest UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on climatic extreme events also shares this opinion. According to UN heatwaves will become significantly longer, hotter and increase in frequency, and rainfall will be heavier during the 21st century, all because of the increased climate change impact.

It was also concluded that there is an increased risk from hurricanes and cyclones as wind speeds in hurricanes and tropical cyclones were likely to increase though there is still not enough evidence to draw firm conclusions for each region.

There is also a chance of an increase in danger in high mountains from landslides and the bursts of glacial lakes. All these phenomena will account for not only major environmental but also major economic damage measured in billions of dollars.

There's a very little chance that this newest report will have any effect at international climate talks that will soon begin in Durban, South Africa. World leaders apparently still believe we have all the time in the world to tackle climate change issue.

And the carbon emissions continue to grow, increasing global temperatures and bringing us very close to a global temperature increase of two degrees Celsius which is seen by many scientists as the point of no return in our fight against climate change.

Only united world can find solution to climate change

Climate change is by all means the greatest environmental threat of our time. Since climate change is a global issue it requires solution on global level which means that all countries of the world must be involved. However the unity of the world is highly questionable topic particularly when you consider almost no success in international climate talks up to this date.

The best solution to tackle climate change is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions on global level. However, many countries of the world are reluctant to commit to major carbon cuts because they fear this will have seriously negative economic impact. Don't be surprised, economy still heavily outweighs ecology, despite living in the 21st century.

Even if world eventually agrees on new climate deal it might be too late to stop climate change from running away with it. We have already witnessed to higher incidence of extreme weather events in many parts of the world with much more to come in years ahead.

In order to reduce carbon emissions on global level world will need to make a rapid transition to clean, renewable energy. The currently dominant fossil fuels when burn produce carbon emissions so the more fossil fuels gets replaced with renewable energy sources the better it will be in fight against climate change.

The transition to renewable energy is still not fast enough even despite the recent record growth of installed renewable energy capacity. Renewable energy sources are still more expensive energy option compared to fossil fuels which means that many countries, especially developing countries, still prefer them as a main driving force of their economies (this mostly refers to coal, the cheapest but also the dirtiest energy source).

World also needs to stop deforestation. Forests, especially rainforests, absorb large quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In fact our forests are together with our oceans the largest carbon sinkers.

The climate change has already reached the point where we have to think how to best adapt to it. Many scientists will tell you that term „tackling climate change“ no longer refers to completely stopping climate change but to make sure climate change does not cross the point of no return ( seen by many scientists as the global temperature increase of two degrees).

Climate change is really the first major issue that will test the unity of this world. Judging by the most recent reports regarding climate change talks, world is anything but united.

World needs to make switch to zero-carbon economy

We can still stop climate change from totally running out of control. However in order to do so we have to make sure to stop global temperatures' increase of two degrees. Many climate change scientists are convinced that this decade could well be our last chance for decisive action against climate change.

If only world leaders would share their opinion and agree on new climate deal. At this moment however new climate change deal looks anything but possible.

World needs to significantly reduce carbon emissions at global level and there are several possible solutions to achieve this- transition to renewable energy, increased energy efficiency as well as different other carbon-free technologies.

The temperatures will grow as long as we keep emitting carbon emissions therefore the perfect solution to tackle climate change would be for world to switch to zero carbon economy.

The first step to zero-carbon economy would no doubt be ambitious renewable energy targets and a quick transition to renewable energy sources as the primary sources of energy.

The zero-carbon economy scenario wouldn't sit well to powerful fossil fuel lobbies and since these lobbies still have huge influence over politics it is no surprise all major political decisions go their way.

The global politics needs to look above the individual interests because climate change is global threat which means that only united world has the chance to tackle it.

Why is climate change a major threat to Africa?

Africa is a continent most vulnerable to climate change. Already very hot and dry Africa will soon become even dryer and hotter due to climate change. More droughts will cause even more hunger in the Black Continent and Africa will find it extremely hard to cope with the climate change impact in years to come.

Africa's economy will take a massive hit by climate change, especially since Africa doesn't have enough money or the adequate policies to adapt to climate change. Without the help of rich countries Africa's future will look anything but bright.

African economy is still mostly based on agriculture despite the fact that there is a growing trend for industrialization in many African countries. The industrialization of Africa might worsen already serious climate change issue in Africa because most developing countries rely on coal as major fuel to boost their economies, which leads to more carbon emissions.

Africa needs to adopt green economy based on sustainable development and renewable energy but this is lot easier to said than done, especially with the high level of poverty in Africa.

The rich countries need to help Africa to come up with solutions that would ensure economic growth but at the same time avoid further harming the climate with more greenhouse gases.

Climate change is already shrinking animals and plants?

Climate change has already brought many animal and plant species at the very brink of extinction while other plants and animals are shrinking in size because of warmer temperatures.

Jennifer Sheridan and David Bickford at the National University of Singapore have studied climate-change episodes in the distant past as well as experiments and observations in recent history. Their conclusion was that climate change has already begun to shrink dozens of animal and plants species with many more likely to follow.

Fossil records from the past clearly show that past periods of rising temperatures had led both marine and land organisms to gradually shrink in size. During a warming event 55 million years ago many species such as beetles, bees, spiders, wasps and ants shrank by 50 to 75 percent in size over a period of several thousand years.

The most worrying fact is that the current warming trend is lot faster than the one of 55 million years ago. In the worst possible scenario if food crops and animals continue to shrink this will in years to come lead to severe food shortages and more hunger in the world.

The scientists have calculated that the each degree of warming reduces by 0.5 to 4 percent the body size of marine invertebrates and 6 to 22 percent of fish. Not only that, frequent droughts also lead to smaller offspring.

The additional problem in the whole climate change story is the fact that our planet is warming really fast which doesn't leave much room for plants and animals to adapt quickly enough.

And the carbon emissions still continue to grow…

Will EU be able to meet its climate targets?

EU's main climate goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020. After a 7% drop in greenhouse gas emissions in 2009 many thought that EU will achieve this goal with relative ease. But 2009 was anything but a representative year in terms of emission cuts because of global recession.

According to the latest data European greenhouse gas emissions rose by 2.4% in 2010 boosted by an economic recovery and the increased use of heating fuels due to a very cold winter.

The European Environment Agency (EEA) said that this increase in emissions in 2010 does not mean that EU is no longer at the right track to achieve its climate target. What this really means is that the existing measures are not enough and that some EU countries will have to put lot more efforts in order to cut their greenhouse gas emissions.

For instance, EU countries like Austria, Italy and Luxembourg will fail to achieve their Kyoto targets which will have negative effect on collective EU climate target.

One thing is sure, namely that EU will need different policies that would ensure further cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. These policies will have to put lot more emphasis to renewable energy, energy efficiency and pollution reduction.

Jacqueline McGlade, EEA executive director said that "we (EU) can reduce emissions further if we consider the climate impacts of various policies more systematically."

Some policies are more efficient than others, some give better short-term some better long-term results, some can be applied only in certain EU countries while others can be used everywhere. EU must be aware of all these details if it wants to successfully reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help tackle climate change on global level.

World is taking huge gamble with climate change issue

The difference in opinion between the developed and the developing world is still main stumbling block in climate change talks any by the current looks of it world is still extremely far from agreeing the Kyoto successor. The failure to reach new climate deal will mean that countries will have to commit to only voluntary steps which are unlikely to halt climate change impact.

By delaying the necessary climate change action in form of new legally binding international climate deal world is taking a huge gamble. The result of this risky policy could very easily be manifested in extreme droughts, floods, storms, crop failures, and even new diseases.

The emissions still continue to grow and world is heating up, particularly because fast developing countries like China and India need more coal and other fossil fuels to drive their economies forward.

Developing world doesn't give up on its stand that rich countries need to commit to tougher carbon cuts while rich nations believe that all big polluters need to be equally included in carbon cuts, including the likes of China and India.

In the meantime climate change has already started showing its scary face as according to the US National Weather Service extreme weather events (together with floods) have already accounted to $35 billion in damage in the first seven months of this year. This projected damage doesn't include billions in losses coming from the hurricane Irene which struck the United States in August.

The climate change is constantly moving forward, strengthening its impact while world leaders haven't moved an inch in their negotiations.

And what about the most vulnerable countries such as for instance low-lying islands? Sea levels are rising very fast and the quick climate action is the only way to stop them from rising even higher.

World still hasn't matured enough to realize that climate change issue is not a good place to fortify individual political wills. Climate change is global threat that is already affecting the lives of millions people around the globe and things can only become worse if we remain ignorant about it.

If climate change issue can't unite the world what can? The stakes can't be higher because we are gambling here with the destiny of our future generations. Is this risk really worth to take just because of different political interests?

Renewable energy still cannot halt climate change

Renewable energy is growing at a record level in many countries around the globe and also the use of energy sources is becoming more and more efficient. But how much does this actually count in our fight against climate change? Very little, because carbon dioxide emissions still continue to grow even despite these measures. Why is that?

The main reason why renewable energy and improved energy efficiency aren't able to halt the growth in carbon emissions is the ever-increasing demand for power and transport, which is the strongest in developing countries such as China and India.

The economic boom in developing countries craves for more power and transport to keep it going and most of this power and transport comes from the fossil fuels because renewable energy, despite its remarkable growth in the last ten years, is still a minor source of energy when compared to coal, oil and natural gas.

Something needs to change in global climate policy but this so much needed change in global climate policy is nowhere to be seen on the horizon because world leaders still cannot agree on new climate deal. The climate talks have so far been anything but successful because there is still no consensus between the developed and the developing world about what our next step should be.

All eyes are set on US and China, two largest carbon emitters in the world. China is overall leader in carbon dioxide emissions while US is the largest CO2 emitter per capita by emitting 16.9 tonnes CO2 per capita, two and the half time as much as China at 6.8 tonnes per capita.

The transition to renewable is still not going as fast as it should go. Not only that, the majority of energy analysts agree that fossil fuels will remain dominant energy sources till at least 2050, which in business as usual scenario means that the climate change will reach the point of no return (the global temperature increase of two degrees Celsius).

This will account for frequent extreme weather events such as tsunamis and hurricanes, cause global sea level rise, drought, floods, hunger, new diseases and millions of refugees.

World leaders are still not taking the threat of climate change seriously. It seems like they believe they have all the time in the world to do something about it. The truth is that the time for action has almost run out. No more talks, give us the necessary action. Please.