It is startling to note that global carbon dioxide emissions from all human activities remain at record highs in 2022, and fossil fuel emissions have risen above pre-pandemic levels, according to a new analysis by an international body of scientists. Reportedly, this year, the world is projected to emit 40.6 billion tons of CO2 from all human activities, leaving 380 billion tons of CO2 as the remaining carbon budget. Needles to say, this amount of emissions is disastrous for the climate -- at current levels, there is a 50 per cent chance the planet will reach the 1.5C global average temperature rise in just nine years.
The vital United Nations climate talks, billed as one of the last chances to stave off climate breakdown, are taking place from November 6 to 18 in Egypt's Sharm El Sheikh amid a multitude of competing crises, including the war in Ukraine, high inflation, food shortages and an energy crunch. The world is now going through a situation where the most vulnerable countries, which deserve the highest level of priority, are failing to access support that is being realised. Major emitters show extreme reluctance on mitigation, which may wreck the international climate regime and put the climate vulnerable countries like Bangladesh at peril. As developed countries are accountable for the severe consequences of climate change, they must provide with necessary financial, technological and intellectual support to the developing countries following the Paris Agreement to tackle climate change. Moreover, developing countries like Bangladesh need a global commitment to face climate challenges.
The world must act to prevent
ever worsening climate
impacts and to keep
temperature increase to
below 1.5°C above
pre-industrial levels
Four key climate change indicators – greenhouse gas concentrations, sea level rise, ocean heat and ocean acidification – set new records in 2021. This is yet another clear sign that human activities are causing planetary scale changes on land, in the ocean, and in the atmosphere, with harmful and long-lasting ramifications for sustainable development and ecosystems, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
We are already too late to do much to arrest climate change. Even climate scientists are stunned by the pace at which the climatic conditions are being disrupted by the ignorance and deep-rooted selfishness of humanity. The past seven years have been the warmest seven years on record. The world must act to prevent ever worsening climate impacts and to keep temperature increase to below 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Humanity must urgently cut global emissions if we are to retain any hope of averting the most catastrophic impacts of climate change.
