SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
PacifiCorp's coal fired power plant burns coal outside of Castle Dale, Utah on November 14, 2019. (Photo: George Frey/AFP via Getty Images)
'No Time to Lose for Climate Action': Atmospheric CO2 Continued to Rise in 2020 Despite Covid-19 Lockdowns
The World Meteorological Organization called for "more sustained and ambitious climate action to reduce emissions to net zero through a compete transformation of our industrial, energy, and transport systems."
Nov 22, 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic provoked a global economic slowdown that led to a slight reduction in carbon dioxide emissions in 2020, but this year's drop "has had no measurable impact on" the ongoing buildup of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere.
"CO2 concentrations are going up and will continue to increase, unless we stop the fossil society and replace it with a just and humane global democracy."
--David Fopp, Stockholm University
That's according to a new report published Monday by the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which advocated for responding to the climate emergency with bold action that includes a thorough reconfiguration of our economic, energy, and transportation systems.
While the coronavirus-driven restrictions on commerce have been a life-saving public health intervention, "the lockdown-related fall in emissions is just a tiny blip on the long-term graph," said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.
The report estimated that, as a result of the temporary shutdown of air travel and other activities, the total reduction of annual global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2020 will be between 4.2% and 7.5%. But that has had a negligible impact on GHG concentrations--the result of cumulative past and current emissions.
"CO2 remains in the atmosphere for centuries," Taalas pointed out, meaning that actions taken this year to curb the spread of a deadly infectious disease are "not a solution for climate change."
As Grist reported in April, "the world is still on track to release 95% of the carbon dioxide emitted in a typical year... even as we're stuck at home." One reason why is that, as Matt Huber explained on the Unequal Carbon Footprints website, "the bulk of emissions are generated by the industrial sector operated by very large and profitable corporations."
"If we are going to solve climate change," Huber added, "we should start by thinking about how to reform the behaviors of these actors first."
Although the global response to the pandemic is not an adequate way to approach the climate emergency, it "does provide us with a platform for more sustained and ambitious climate action to reduce emissions to net zero through a complete transformation of our industrial, energy, and transport systems," Taalas said.
As The Guardian reported Monday, "Scientists calculate that emissions must fall by half by 2030 to give a good chance of limiting global heating to 1.5C, beyond which hundreds of millions of people will face more heatwaves, droughts, floods, and poverty."
Taalas stressed that achieving carbon neutrality is "economically affordable and technically possible and would affect our everyday life only marginally."
"There is no time to lose," he added.
In a video based on the findings of the report also released Monday, the WMO repeated its "no time to lose for climate action" message as it called for strong efforts worldwide to address the emissions crisis:
"We need to stop the emissions [and] keep the fossil fuels in the ground," tweeted scholar-activist David Fopp.
"CO2 concentrations are going up and will continue to increase," he noted, "unless we stop the fossil society and replace it with a just and humane global democracy."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Kenny Stancil
Kenny Stancil is senior researcher at the Revolving Door Project and a former staff writer for Common Dreams.
The Covid-19 pandemic provoked a global economic slowdown that led to a slight reduction in carbon dioxide emissions in 2020, but this year's drop "has had no measurable impact on" the ongoing buildup of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere.
"CO2 concentrations are going up and will continue to increase, unless we stop the fossil society and replace it with a just and humane global democracy."
--David Fopp, Stockholm University
That's according to a new report published Monday by the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which advocated for responding to the climate emergency with bold action that includes a thorough reconfiguration of our economic, energy, and transportation systems.
While the coronavirus-driven restrictions on commerce have been a life-saving public health intervention, "the lockdown-related fall in emissions is just a tiny blip on the long-term graph," said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.
The report estimated that, as a result of the temporary shutdown of air travel and other activities, the total reduction of annual global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2020 will be between 4.2% and 7.5%. But that has had a negligible impact on GHG concentrations--the result of cumulative past and current emissions.
"CO2 remains in the atmosphere for centuries," Taalas pointed out, meaning that actions taken this year to curb the spread of a deadly infectious disease are "not a solution for climate change."
As Grist reported in April, "the world is still on track to release 95% of the carbon dioxide emitted in a typical year... even as we're stuck at home." One reason why is that, as Matt Huber explained on the Unequal Carbon Footprints website, "the bulk of emissions are generated by the industrial sector operated by very large and profitable corporations."
"If we are going to solve climate change," Huber added, "we should start by thinking about how to reform the behaviors of these actors first."
Although the global response to the pandemic is not an adequate way to approach the climate emergency, it "does provide us with a platform for more sustained and ambitious climate action to reduce emissions to net zero through a complete transformation of our industrial, energy, and transport systems," Taalas said.
As The Guardian reported Monday, "Scientists calculate that emissions must fall by half by 2030 to give a good chance of limiting global heating to 1.5C, beyond which hundreds of millions of people will face more heatwaves, droughts, floods, and poverty."
Taalas stressed that achieving carbon neutrality is "economically affordable and technically possible and would affect our everyday life only marginally."
"There is no time to lose," he added.
In a video based on the findings of the report also released Monday, the WMO repeated its "no time to lose for climate action" message as it called for strong efforts worldwide to address the emissions crisis:
"We need to stop the emissions [and] keep the fossil fuels in the ground," tweeted scholar-activist David Fopp.
"CO2 concentrations are going up and will continue to increase," he noted, "unless we stop the fossil society and replace it with a just and humane global democracy."
Kenny Stancil
Kenny Stancil is senior researcher at the Revolving Door Project and a former staff writer for Common Dreams.
The Covid-19 pandemic provoked a global economic slowdown that led to a slight reduction in carbon dioxide emissions in 2020, but this year's drop "has had no measurable impact on" the ongoing buildup of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere.
"CO2 concentrations are going up and will continue to increase, unless we stop the fossil society and replace it with a just and humane global democracy."
--David Fopp, Stockholm University
That's according to a new report published Monday by the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which advocated for responding to the climate emergency with bold action that includes a thorough reconfiguration of our economic, energy, and transportation systems.
While the coronavirus-driven restrictions on commerce have been a life-saving public health intervention, "the lockdown-related fall in emissions is just a tiny blip on the long-term graph," said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.
The report estimated that, as a result of the temporary shutdown of air travel and other activities, the total reduction of annual global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2020 will be between 4.2% and 7.5%. But that has had a negligible impact on GHG concentrations--the result of cumulative past and current emissions.
"CO2 remains in the atmosphere for centuries," Taalas pointed out, meaning that actions taken this year to curb the spread of a deadly infectious disease are "not a solution for climate change."
As Grist reported in April, "the world is still on track to release 95% of the carbon dioxide emitted in a typical year... even as we're stuck at home." One reason why is that, as Matt Huber explained on the Unequal Carbon Footprints website, "the bulk of emissions are generated by the industrial sector operated by very large and profitable corporations."
"If we are going to solve climate change," Huber added, "we should start by thinking about how to reform the behaviors of these actors first."
Although the global response to the pandemic is not an adequate way to approach the climate emergency, it "does provide us with a platform for more sustained and ambitious climate action to reduce emissions to net zero through a complete transformation of our industrial, energy, and transport systems," Taalas said.
As The Guardian reported Monday, "Scientists calculate that emissions must fall by half by 2030 to give a good chance of limiting global heating to 1.5C, beyond which hundreds of millions of people will face more heatwaves, droughts, floods, and poverty."
Taalas stressed that achieving carbon neutrality is "economically affordable and technically possible and would affect our everyday life only marginally."
"There is no time to lose," he added.
In a video based on the findings of the report also released Monday, the WMO repeated its "no time to lose for climate action" message as it called for strong efforts worldwide to address the emissions crisis:
"We need to stop the emissions [and] keep the fossil fuels in the ground," tweeted scholar-activist David Fopp.
"CO2 concentrations are going up and will continue to increase," he noted, "unless we stop the fossil society and replace it with a just and humane global democracy."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.