Open AWE Magazine menu
Subscribe Login

Home / Articles and Press Releases / Press Release / Climate Crisis: Keeping Hope of 1.5°C limit Alive is Vital to Spurring Global Action

CATEGORIES

  • Latest Issue
  • Air Quality
  • Chromatography
  • Construction
  • Climate Change
  • Emissions
  • Environmental & Monitoring Technology
  • Gas Detection
  • Health and Safety Awareness
  • Humidity & Temperature
  • Laboratory Testing
  • Land Remediation
  • Marine Pollution
  • Noise Monitoring
  • Regulations & Legislations
  • Sludge and Biosolids
  • Soil Analysis
  • Spectroscopy
  • Weather Monitoring
  • Water Analysis
  • Water Monitoring

MORE

  • Press Releases
  • Events
  • Videos
  • Magazines

COMPANY

  • About
  • Advertising
  • Newsletter
  • Contact
HSI White logo
Open AWE Magazine menu
Subscribe

Home / Articles and Press Releases / Press Release / Climate Crisis: Keeping Hope of 1.5°C limit Alive is Vital to Spurring Global Action

CATEGORIES

  • Latest Issue
  • Air Quality
  • Chromatography
  • Construction
  • Climate Change
  • Emissions
  • Environmental & Monitoring Technology
  • Gas Detection
  • Health and Safety Awareness
  • Humidity & Temperature
  • Laboratory Testing
  • Land Remediation
  • Marine Pollution
  • Noise Monitoring
  • Regulations & Legislations
  • Sludge and Biosolids
  • Soil Analysis
  • Spectroscopy
  • Weather Monitoring
  • Water Analysis
  • Water Monitoring

MORE

  • Press Releases
  • Events
  • Videos
  • Magazines

COMPANY

  • About
  • Advertising
  • Newsletter
  • Contact

CATEGORIES

  • Heat and Flame
  • Press Release|Gas Detection
  • Article
  • Press Release
  • Air Quality
  • Chromatography
  • Construction
  • Climate Change
  • Emissions
  • Environmental & Monitoring Technology
  • Gas Detection
  • Health and Safety Awareness
  • Humidity & Temperature
  • Laboratory Testing
  • Land Remediation
  • Marine Pollution
  • Noise Monitoring
  • Personal Protective Equipment
  • Regulations & Legislations
  • Sludge and Biosolids
  • Soil Analysis
  • Spectroscopy
  • Weather Monitoring
  • Water Analysis
  • Water Monitoring
  • Wellbeing at work

Press Release

Climate Crisis: Keeping Hope of 1.5°C limit Alive is Vital to Spurring Global Action

By Richard Black

| Read Bio

Published: April 08th, 2021

Share this article

Richard Black, Imperial College London and Catherine Happer, University of Glasgow

Ever since governments at the 2015 Paris climate summit set 1.5°C as the desired limit for global warming, scientists and journalists alike have regularly asked whether it is achievable. The question arose again recently when the UN published a report of national emission-cutting pledges for the next decade. It will be posed regularly before the publication of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report in July – a synthesis of the most recent information scientists can offer on climate change – and the UN climate summit in November.

Science is already clear that the 1.5°C target can be met. But science cannot say whether it will be met. The outcome depends on two things we cannot know with precision: how sensitive the climate system is to rising greenhouse gas concentrations, and how quickly the world will cut emissions.

Humanity has little sway over climate sensitivity. But on the second issue – what we do about emissions – humanity clearly holds the lever of influence.

The recent UN report showed that governments are not pushing that lever on short-term emissions hard enough. Only 40% of countries have so far set a new emission-cutting target for 2030, as they are due to under the Paris Agreement. Collectively, they are pledging to bring emissions down by 1% below 2010 levels rather than the 45% proposed by the IPCC as being compatible with meeting the 1.5°C limit.

Yet, since autumn 2020, China, the EU, the US, Japan and South Korea have all pledged to reach net zero emissions around mid-century. If they follow through, that would halve the gap to the 1.5°C target – and that’s without factoring in the wider effect on global markets, investment and prices that will inevitably follow.

So the future is not set, and much will depend on decisions made in these next few crucial years.

While scientists might be tempted to spend much of 2021 arguing whether the Paris Agreement’s limit is feasible, having this as a live debate could itself lower our chances of delivering the target.

Consensus and empowerment

The chances of stopping warming at 1.5°C increase the faster the global community cuts greenhouse gas emissions to zero. And how fast we do that depends on the interrelated actions of a huge mix of people – government ministers most importantly, but also business chiefs, investors, banks, religious leaders, activists and citizens. The last few years have seen efforts accelerate across those constituencies, from the establishment of financial mechanisms by the UN to the Fridays for Future movement.

Across these initiatives, one inescapable fact is how central the 1.5°C target now is. The open letter that Fridays for Future sent to political leaders in 2020 referred to the 1.5°C limit five times, and not at all to the other Paris Agreement goal of keeping global warming “well below 2°C”. When deciding their net zero emissions targets, the governments of the UK and New Zealand both explicitly referred to the 1.5°C limit as the global “guardrail” and set their national decarbonisation trajectories accordingly. The UN secretary general, António Guterres, exhorts governments and businesses to meet this goal specifically rather than “well below 2°C.”

So to claim that 1.5°C is out of reach would be to undercut all of those initiatives and many others – to tell them all, from minister to investor to youth activist, that they are doomed to fail.

Social science tells us a lot about the effects of different types of messaging on climate action, including on two issues that are significant here: consensus and empowerment.

From climate change to vaccination, a consensus message from scientists increases public faith and willingness to act. We’re seeing how mixed messaging damages trust right now with the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine. Would climate contrarians have put so much effort into undermining the perception of consensus among climate scientists were not the perception of consensus important to decarbonisation?

The world stands a better chance of tackling climate change if people feel they have a chance of succeeding. Academic research backs up this common sense. A major study in 2020 showed how the “we cannot do it” argument works to delay action, noting that such statements “can result in a paralysing state of shock and resignation”, which is a deterrent to active engagement in solutions. Research also shows that public disengagement is the inevitable result of a perceived sense of conflict among scientists. This may be the intent of people wishing to delay climate action, but it’s presumably not an outcome that scientists who support decarbonisation seek.


Read more: Climate denial hasn’t gone away – here’s how to spot arguments for delaying climate action


The IPCC is perhaps the biggest consensus-forming initiative in the whole of science. Its 2018 Special Report found 1.5°C achievable and, judging from private conversations, this year’s report is unlikely to close the door.

So will our species succeed in limiting global warming to 1.5°C and so stave off some of the more crippling effects of climate change? No one can possibly know. Can we succeed? As former US president Barack Obama once said: “Yes, we can.” And knowing that we can makes it more likely that we will.

Richard Black, Honorary Research Fellow, Grantham Institute, Imperial College London and Catherine Happer, Lecturer in Sociology, University of Glasgow

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Share this article

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Richard Black

Visit Website

POPULAR POSTS BY Richard Black

Press Release

Climate Crisis: Keeping Hope of 1.5°C limit Alive is Vital to Spurring Global Action

Get email updates

Sign up for the AWE newsletter

Keep up-to-date through the power of email and receive the latest environmental monitoring product information and newsletter emails from AWE - Monitoring and Analysing the Impact of Industry on the Environment

"*" indicates required fields

Country
*
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

FEATURED ARTICLES

Press Release

Blackline Safety and NevadaNano Reach Milestone in Deployment of Industry-First Sensors

Press Release

The Benefits of Using Refurbished Parts in Your Lab

Advertisement

SOCIAL MEDIA

AWE on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/AWEIMagazine/

Advertisement

SOCIAL MEDIA

AWE on Twitter

Avatar AWE International Magazine @aweimagazine ·
19h

At Lovibond® we have understood the importance of water for a long time, and since World Water Day and its motto “The Value of Water” it has become clear: we are living in the middle of a global water crisis.
https://lnkd.in/eB8FAFdc

#aweinternational #lovibond #tintometer #water

Reply on Twitter 1622543763917750273 Retweet on Twitter 1622543763917750273 Like on Twitter 1622543763917750273 Twitter 1622543763917750273

Advertisement

SUBSCRIBE

Stay up to date with our newsletter

    • Keep up-to-date with Europe’s largest audited environmental monitoring magazine

 

    • Delivering the latest information on new products and emerging technologies related to industrial environmental monitoring.

 

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Subscribe

SUBSCRIBE TO AWE MAGAZINE

5 reasons to subscribe to our digital and print package

  • Stay up to date from anywhere in the world, with instant access to the latest issue straight from your phone, tablet or laptop.
  • Trust that you’re getting the best content from our range of internationally accredited authors.
  • Get full access to our archives and see how the environmental monitoring landscape has evolved with us over the years.
  • Enjoy our monthly newsletter curated with up-to-the-minute news and a selection of editor’s top picks.
  • Hot off the press and straight to your door – look forward to your own glossy copy of AWE, delivered five times a year
Subscribe View Subscription levels

STAY SAFE & INFORMED

Subscribe to the latest environmental monitoring articles, news, products and regulations

Find out more

Stay up to date with our newsletter

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

ABOUT

  • About AWE
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us

YOUR ACCOUNT

Sign In Register Account Subscribe to AWE

RESOURCES

Request Media Pack

CONNECT

ACCREDITATIONS

Copyright Bay Publishing 2023. All Rights reserved.

Designed & Built by:
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT