The Policy Fight Over Climate Change Is Not Over
(And Can Still Be Won!)
By Jo Lorenz
Approximately 11 months ago, Trump formally notified the United Nations that the United States would be withdrawing from the Paris Agreement . . .
This action began the 365-day countdown to the date when the US would officially be out — Nov 4, 2020 — leaving climate activists and diplomats having to navigate the way forward without the partnership of the world’s largest economy.
The Paris Agreement — a consensus within the @UNFCCC — aligns 197 nations under a common goal to combat climate change and help all countries cope with the effects of an already warming planet. It’s essentially everyone sitting down at the global-family-dinner-table trying to figure this shit out together, albeit with a few confused cousins who refuse to join the discussion <everyone call China to make sure he’s coming!>
The Agreement’s official objective is to keep the world from becoming 2C hotter (than before industrialisation) with aims to limit heating to 1.5C — and while we’ve made some progress in some areas, the cold hard truth is that it’s not nearly enough. According to reports, the world is approx 1C hotter than the pre-industrial period and we are devastatingly on track to become 3C hotter. This increase and trapping of heat within our atmosphere will mean: more intense heatwaves; an increase in extreme weather disasters; and faster sea-level rise resulting in flooding of major cities such as Miami, Rio de Janeiro, Osaka, Hong Kong, et al. To be very clear here: we do not want this to happen!
This week is ‘Climate Week NYC’, which has brought together global leaders to discuss climate plans. Long-time environmentalist and my climate activist boyfriend, The Prince of Wales, gave the keynote address: “At this late stage I can see no other way forward but to call for a Marshall-like plan for nature, people and planet,” Prince Charles said. He went on to say that climate change is “now rapidly becoming a comprehensive catastrophe that will dwarf the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.”
Now, this ‘Marshall Plan’ to which Prince Charles referred, was the US-program that provided USD15 billion in aid to Western Europe in 1948, after the devastation of World War II. In other words, this was Prince Charles directly trying to appeal to the US at the global-family-dinner-table <awkward silence> . . . can someone pass the salt please?
If Trump wins the election on Nov 3, the world is in a really bad place. The US would then officially leave the Paris Agreement the next day, there will be no Marshall Plan and all predictions will get worse. In addition to this, the absence of the US at the table (historically the biggest contributor to climate change) will almost certainly cause other nations to pursue their climate plans with considerably less zeal.
Yet if Biden wins, he’d immediately rejoin the Paris Agreement and push his USD 2 trillion plan for clean energy infrastructure and climate solutions (to be spent asap over the next four years). THESE ARE THE MARSHALL PLANS WE NEED! These plans, however, will require sign-off from Congress — so we need for Biden to win and for the Democrats to take the Senate, as well as retain the House. THIS MEANS WE NEED A SEA OF BLUE VOTERS! YES I AM YELLING! #sorrynotsorry
Voting suppression is rampant in the US at the moment (slash always). I.e. it is not a straight forward or fair process. This means that every single US citizen who can vote NEEDS to! And if you’re not an American citizen (like I am not), then please speak to your US family/friends, to explain to them what is at stake for our future generations.
To fight the climate crisis we need systemic change throughout our governments and economic structures — yet for years our politicians and economists alike have said it cannot be done. Yet with COVID-19 it has been done. The world has changed. COVID was the start of the revolution and demonstrative of how our governments can act when they need to.
WE NEED TO KEEP THIS UP! We must take immediate action to capitalise on the COVID-19 ‘reset' to build a more inclusive and sustainable future. We need Joe Biden’s USD 2 trillion! We need our Marshall Plan!
Photo by Paddy O Sullivan on Unsplash
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