Leonardo DiCaprio said,

 

The argument is over. Anyone that doesn't believe that climate change is happening doesn't believe in science.

Yes! Climate change is real; Earth temperature is raising day by day.

Yes! The change in weather patterns is real; Weather events are becoming more extreme.

Yes! Ice glaciers are melting resulting increment in the water level.

Yes! If we won’t stop now, we can never get the earth and its species back again.  

According to WWF some main causes of climate change are:

·         Deforestation

  •  Humanity’s increased use of fossil fuels
  •  Intensive agriculture.

Increase in demand of wood increases deforestation about 2.47 million trees cut down every day that ultimately affects the climate because trees absorb and store carbon di oxide from the air; For the generation of electricity, to run vehicles and to power the manufacturing and industry natural resources are used such as coal, oil and gas which results in increasing the temperature of atmosphere;  Also, intensive agriculture plays a leading role in polluting the environment and induces major health issues due to excessive use of fertilizers and poisonous agents to yield higher number of crops.

 


According to model projections, if we reduce greenhouse gas emissions, there will be about a degree of warming over this century (the purple line). If we do not reduce greenhouse gases as much, Earth will warm much more (orange line). The area around the lines indicates the range of model results from these two scenarios. 
Credit: L.S. Gardiner/UCAR with IPCC (2013) data

 

(2010-2019) is recorded as the warmest decade ever. Carbon dioxide level and Green House Gases in the atmosphere reached to new records in 2019. But, In the year 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic about 6 percent drop in GHG emission was witnessed. But the improvement is for some time because once the global activities begins to recover from the pandemic, emission of gases are expected to return in more amount.

Thankfully, a proactive action had already been taken to combat these problems. World leaders at the UN SDG Summit in January 2015 proposed a 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with 17 SDGs at its core. Taking pledge to achieve the Goals by the target date of 2030, leaving no one behind by mobilize financing, enhance national implementation and strengthen institutes.

The UN Secretary-General called on all sectors of society to mobilize on three levels:

  • Global action to secure greater leadership, more resources and smarter solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals.
  • Local action embedding the needed transitions in the policies, budgets, institutions and regulatory frameworks of governments, cities and local authorities.
  • People action, including by youth, civil society, the media, the private sector, unions, academia and other stakeholders, to generate an unstoppable movement pushing for the required transformations.
Sustainable Development Goals:

·         Goal 1:No Poverty

·         Goal 2:Zero Hunger

·         Goal 3:Good Health and Well-being

·         Goal 4:Quality Education

·         Goal 5:Gender Equality

·         Goal 6:Clean Water and Sanitation

·         Goal 7:Affordable and Clean Energy

·         Goal 8:Decent Work and Economic Growth

·         Goal 9:Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

·         Goal 10:Reduced Inequality

·         Goal 11:Sustainable Cities and Communities

·         Goal 12:Responsible Consumption and Production

·         Goal 13:Climate Action

·         Goal 14:Life Below Water

·         Goal 15:Life on Land

·         Goal 16:Peace and Justice Strong Institutions

·         Goal 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal

Goal 13: Climate action

 

2030 agenda enforces to take urgent actions to encounter climate change and its impacts. About 125 of 154 developing countries are formulating and implementing National Climate Adaptation Plans in which highest priority areas are; food security and production, terrestrial and wetland ecosystem, freshwater resources, human health and key economic sectors and services. Also, following targets are emphasized:

·      Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries.

·       Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning.

·    Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.

·   Implement the commitment undertaken by developed-country parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to a goal of mobilizing jointly $100 billion annually by 2020 from all sources to address the needs of developing countries in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation and fully operationalize the Green Climate Fund through its capitalization as soon as possible

·   Promote mechanisms for raising capacity for effective climate change-related planning and management in least developed countries and small island developing States, including focusing on women, youth, and local and marginalized communities.


About the Author: Farheen Tariq is a Software Engineer and highly concerned about climate change and the earth's devastation from plastic. She has started a group on Facebook "Earth Savers" putting all her efforts to spread awareness and to build a community that works for the betterment of Earth.

Editor: Muhammad Nazim