23 September, 2016

Case for 1.5°C strengthens at New York Climate Week

Howard Li

Green makes the world go round — it’s a saying that’s especially apparent here in the hustle of New York. But when the Empire State Building lit up in green to mark the beginning of Climate Week, it signalled a different kind of rush entirely: the rush to ratify the Paris Agreement and for governments, businesses, NGOs, and citizens from all walks of life to take immediate and decisive action on climate change.

Climate Analytics panelists: Selwin Hart, Michael Oppenheimer, James Fletcher, Nathanael Greene

Panellists at the Climate Analytics event: Selwin Hart, Dr Michael Oppenheimer, Dr James Fletcher, Nathanael Greene

This mood was perhaps best summarised by Dr. James Fletcher, Saint Lucia’s climate champion, who played a crucial role in the inclusion of the 1.5°C temperature limit in the Paris Agreement. Speaking on the panel of a Climate Analytics event at the start of Climate Week, he reeled off a list of facts that would shake the hearts of even the most hardened climate skeptics:

Climate change is an existential issue. Before we even reached 1°C of warming, every single one of us in the Caribbean, in the Pacific, in low-lying regions had already suffered from more extreme climate events, hurricanes, droughts, heat waves… When Hurricane Gilbert hit, 350% of Jamaica’s GDP was destroyed within 48 hours. Not a single roof was left. Life does not just go on. And that’s just one example. We are not being esoteric here – we are speaking of life and death.

Selwin Hart, the chief climate adviser to Ban Ki Moon, emphasised the need to continue harnessing the momentum behind COP21. During this week, the list of countries ratifying the Paris Agreement reached 60, and the European Union, Canada, and other significant emitters have accelerated their ratification processes in hopes of joining that list by the end of the year (you can follow our ratification tracker here).

This same thinking led 375 prominent American scientists to release an open letter to the “Republican nominee for President” stressing the devastating consequences of a US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.

A growing body of evidence is showing the feasibility and benefits of limiting warming to 1.5°C. During the panel Dr. Michael Oppenheimer, a leading climate scientist with the IPCC, spoke of the huge fundamental and systemic impacts that would occur beyond that limit and emphasised the urgency of a rapid transformation in key sectors.

Govs need to take a hard look at innovation policies, more attention & $$ for tech change for #ClimateAction, says @ClimateOpp at @CA_Latest
— Jonathan Rozen (@rozen_jonathan) September 19, 2016

Nathanael Greene from the NRDC explained the incredible and transformative advances in clean technology, summarised by the simplest of quotes: “The Stone Age did not end for lack of stones”.

Research presented by Climate Analytics with the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), World Bank, UNDP and other partner organisations shows that 1.5 compatible emissions pathways can also bring about substantial economic, development, and health advantages – advantages that would benefit both developed and developing economies with stronger climate policies. You can download the presentations from the event here:

1.5°C science update and political perspective – Dr Carl-Friedrich Schleussner

Feasibility and benefits of the 1.5°C limit – Dr Marcia Rocha

The macroeconomic benefits of the 1.5°C limit – Florent Baarsch

Inter-organisational coalitions are also mobilising to implement the 1.5°C limit. At a forum hosted by the Climate Action Network, CVF, CARE, and the Stanley Foundation, both state and non-state actors came together to develop action plans for achieving 1.5°C, as well as how to increase ambitions for COP22 and beyond.

The big city networks acting on climate change are increasingly putting 1.5C at the core of their targets and strategies #CWNYC
— Thomas Hale (@thomasnhale) September 20, 2016

At @StanleyFound, @MattlanZackhras describes ways 1.5 C target forms "beating heart of the Paris Agreement" for vulnerable nations #CWNYC
— Amy Weinfurter (@AmyWeinfurter) September 21, 2016

Another forum hosted by the Stanley foundation brought together journalists covering climate issues with experts and campaigners, including Climate Analytics’ Dr Marcia Rocha, to inform and help contextualise reporting on the 1.5°C temperature limit – why it matters, what efforts are made to achieve it, emerging 1.5°C coalitions, next steps at COP22 and how the special IPCC Report, due in 2018, factors into this.

The myriad of events, showcases, and meetings during Climate Week illustrated the many opportunities for each and every one of us to take immediate and decisive action on climate change – before our window of opportunity irreversibly closes.

Comments

Why maintaining ambition for 1.5°C is critical

"One of the key things about this whole problem is that the only way to solve it is that we need to rapidly reduce and phase out fossil fuels. That can’t wait a decade. We need to be making substantial reductions this decade," Bill Hare said in address to the Australia Institute’s Climate Integrity Summit on 20 March 2024.

Why 2024 needs to deliver on climate finance for South Asia and the world

To get climate action on track, 2024 needs to be the year we get moving on finance. We take a look at the current climate finance needs of South Asia and what to expect in the year ahead.

Evidence from Berlin makes the case for urban green spaces: up to 3°C cooler in a heatwave

As global temperatures continue to rise, the safety and well-being of citizens within urban environments becomes increasingly important. Our recent work in the Berlin-Brandenburg area on adaptation to heat stress hammers home some truths – greener is better.

Will 2024 be the year emissions start falling?

The IPCC says we need to peak global greenhouse gas emissions before 2025 to limit warming to 1.5ºC. We dive into the latest research to see if this deadline can be met.

The IPCC set to respond to growing demand for climate science to inform policy

Last week in Istanbul, climate scientists and governments met in the sixtieth session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to agree a plan for its seventh, and potentially most consequential report cycle. The outcome means the IPCC will most probably take a more streamlined approach to its seventh cycle.

COP28 made strong progress on mountains – here’s what to expect in 2024

In 2024, mountains will feature strongly in a number of climate processes, such as the the expert dialogue on mountains at the climate talks in Bonn this June.

"The only GST that matters for 1.5°C": key takeaways from the first global stocktake at COP28

We breakdown the key takeaways from the first global stocktake (GST) since the Paris Agreement and how it sets the stage for the next two years in climate.

COP28: social and economic metrics could serve as stepping stone for Global Goal on Adaptation

As work on shaping the Global Goal on Adaptation culminates this week at COP28, we explore if social and economic metrics could be used as proxies for a country’s ability to adapt.

Safeguards and exit points for the World Bank as host of the Loss and Damage Fund

An agreement was reached to establish the World Bank as the interim host of the Loss and Damage Fund. Developing countries signed up to this on certain conditions. We unpack the safeguards put in place and look at the three points at which the Fund could exit the World Bank.

8 things to know about the state of climate action today

A major new report looks at climate action across all parts of the global economy to find that only electric vehicle sales are on track for 1.5°C.

Beetaloo gas field is a climate bomb. How did CSIRO modelling make it look otherwise?

The fossil gas industry is gearing up for a truly enormous new fracking project in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin that could undo all Australia's efforts to cut emissions.

From droughts to floods: how Eastern African countries are responding to the rising El Niño and Indian Ocean Dipole

The Horn of Africa looks set to go from one disaster to another as floods intensified by a rising El Niño and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole are predicted to follow a prolonged drought. We take a look at climate policies in the region and what countries are doing to prepare for compound extreme events.

About us

Decarbonisation targets and 1.5℃ pathways

Comment