The majority of the world is united in the understanding that we are facing a climate catastrophe, and that it’s our actions which are worsening the situation, in particular the release of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the atmosphere.
The release of GHG emission (aka CO2 or carbon emissions) is increasing global warming, and this in turn is affecting numerous natural balances; through more extreme weather, rising sea levels and diminishing Arctic sea ice, among other changes. In 2015, the Paris Climate Change Agreement set a goal of “holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C” above pre-industrial levels. Though was this enough?
The supporting scientific reports, commissioned to support the Paris Agreement, suggests that we need to limit global warming by 1.5 °C by 2050. The report by the Internal Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) provides details on the consequences. Warning: not to be read before bedtime!
And more recently, the WMO report on The Global Climate in 2015-2019, released to inform the United Nations Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit, says that the global average temperature has increased by 1.1°C since the pre-industrial period.
So how do we get there? The summaries within these reports suggest that changes in all part of our society are needed, with significant changes to the way we live.
Reducing your emissions or footprint is one of the most effective ways to stop your impact and the effects of this on climate change, and this is the approach we favour, however, we feel that whilst reducing we also need to take action – and becoming carbon neutral through offsetting is one way of doing this.
As with most things, there are the sceptics to both climate change and the benefits of offsetting projects, for example Trump – who, if anything, has rallied the world further to take action!