The United Nations Releases Climate Change Report
This ongoing series will explore the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on climate change and how it impacts the Atlanta region, City of Atlanta and Buckhead.
On April 4th, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released some shocking news to the world. We are at a crossroads in our battle with climate change and must act now to secure a livable future. The sobering scientific report states the status of global emissions and the threat to our well-being and that of other species. The IPCC offers strategies and options to tackle this rapidly closing window. All is not lost.
The Sixth Assessment Report determined the impacts of climate change, looking at ecosystems, biodiversity, and human communities at global and regional levels. Nations will collectively have to reduce their fossil fuel emissions by an estimated 43% by 2030 and terminate the addition of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by 2050. We have the technology and resources to put human society on the path to climate recovery. Wind, solar, and other renewable energy sources implemented in 2020 were 62% cheaper than the cheapest new fossil fuel according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. With renewables significantly undercutting fossil fuels as the cheapest source of energy, the primary obstacles will be politics and resistance to change. The UN’s Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, expressed frustration over wealthy economies and corporations choking our planet based on vested interests and investments in fossil fuels when cheaper, renewable solutions provide green jobs, energy security, and greater price stability.
We will need consistent action from local and national politicians, as well as a social movement and public insistence on shifting to a sustainable future requiring transformative changes disrupting existing trends. Being an advanced business hub for technology and innovation, Buckhead is in a unique position to be the future of sustainable energy in communities and businesses. Livable Buckhead’s Sustainability Plan vision directly correlates to the solutions and approaches being addressed in the UN report. The IPCC report raises the profile of approaches that hold assurances for addressing the crisis at local, national, and global levels.
The choices we make now will secure a livable future. If you want to know your carbon footprint follow the link HERE.
Teresa Perkins is a climate change and sustainability journalist, who is creating research-based climate change content pertaining to sustainable energy at local, national, and global level for publication and distribution. She partners with non-profit organizations for innovative ideas and sustainability projects and connects global UN Climate Change reports to local initiatives.
Read the reports:
