Your Vision of International Climate Action

Exercise: Your Vision of International Climate Action (Total  points)

An important take-away from this exercise is that it very difficult to commit to and fulfil the policy goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions so that global temperature increase does not go above 2 degrees Celsius by the year 2100. Another important take away is that a lot of effort will have to be made to assist developing countries to reduce their dependence on non-renewable fossil fuels.

Now is your chance to imagine what each regions’ commitments should be to reach the goal. For this exercise, run multiple experiments in the “C-ROADS World Climate” simulator at https://croadsworldclimate.climateinteractive.org (or search for that phrase). It is online or downloadable. After experimentation with various scenarios, choose a single final scenario that reaches your goal of 2 degrees or less and answer the following questions:

1. Paste a screenshot of the new scenario here (ensure that the final temperature is shown) (5 points)

2. While creating the scenario you may have noted the many tensions between the most developed and less developed countries as you tried to decide how much each region should commit particularly as it related to fairness, historical responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions, and future economic development. For example, the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Conference agreed that global temperatures should not increase by more than 2 degrees but failed to agree on commitments to emissions reductions. Many believe that social equity and justice must be addressed, otherwise, the developing world will be unable to act. Based on your final scenario, what do you think would be the best way for the leaders of the major regions of the world to address climate change? (5 points)

First, leaders must take responsibility for their contribution to global warming. For instance, climate data from the simulation indicate that China alone is responsible for almost a third of the total global CO₂ emission. Therefore, leaders in the China region must take absolute measures to promote afforestation and reduce deforestation, besides controlling industrial emission. Secondly, leaders in each region must strategically use available resources to control carbon emissions. Developed regions can access alternative energy sources (renewable energy sources), and thus, cutting carbon fuels is ideally practical. Developing and underdeveloped countries may not immediately adopt energy sources like solar, wind, and nuclear because they still rely on affordable fossil fuels for many purposes. Note that countries like the US have already begun utilizing renewable sources. It remains for developing countries to promote large-scale renewable energy use while promoting afforestation and discouraging deforestation.

3. Huge shifts in global society would be necessary to address climate change. What gives you hope that the shifts could happen? (5 points)

Firstly, leaders accepting the scientific evidence that humans are the top contributors to global climate change is a significant milestone. One of the reasons why climate change summits have failed in the past is due to the withdrawal of significant leaders like former US president Trump in addressing the issue. However, 198 countries, including China, have agreed to reduce carbon emission in the recent Paris Agreement on Climate change. Secondly, science is significant hope for a drop in carbon emissions. There are many efforts by tech companies to produce environmentally friendly gadgets and machinery, including electric cars.  While science holds a huge potential in providing alternatives for fossil fuels, leaders must enact policies that promote renewable energy.

4. How did it feel to create these scenarios? (5 points)

I felt significant in contributing towards the reduction of carbon emission. I think it is the collective responsibility of human society to ensure the earth is habitable. Therefore, everyone should adopt environmentally friendly practices. Besides, I feel that developed countries should help developing regions to adopt green energy. Such regions have huge populations yet limited resources, which challenge efficient use of energy.