Combined with the last decade’s historical high impacts from weather-related hazards and disasters, the increasing manifestations of climate change have never felt more real. Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015, we’ve experienced the most Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes on record. The U.S. has experienced an overwhelming 70 of those billion-dollar weather disasters. Recent shocking evidence like the burning up of Canada or Hurricane Ian has sharpened the need for bold climate action.
From 2015 to today, our planet has endured a barrage of expensive and deadly climate disasters. Our planet’s average temperature has already jumped nearly a full degree Celsius (nearly two degrees Fahrenheit). Every single year since the Paris climate agreement was signed has been warmer than the last. This increase reflects a climate that is changing faster than society’s efforts to reduce reliance on fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas.
Projections indicate an under-surface warming of up to 2.8 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit). This demonstrates the powerful opportunity and urgent need for collective action. If countries fulfill their pledges, this scenario can be reversed. Experts warn that while progress has been made in some areas, the gap between current achievements and necessary actions continues to widen.
In the past 10 years alone, over 7 trillion tons of ice have melted. Much of this dramatic loss is due to glaciers and ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica. Climate-ready infrastructure rising sea levels are no longer a thing of the future, with an average global rise of 40 millimeters (about 1.6 inches) to date. For the past decade, the United States has been a battered financial capital of natural disasters. 193 of these incidents have each cost more than $1 billion, combining for an astounding total that exceeds $1.5 trillion.
Despite these challenges, some encouraging trends are developing. Indeed, three-quarters (74%) of the growth in global electricity generation came from renewables like wind and solar just last year. This change is a sign that technologies that were once considered speculative are quickly becoming real world climate solutions.
“Technologies, once hypothetical, are now becoming a reality. And the good news is that reality has outpaced many of the projections a decade ago,” – Kelly Levin
Experts have expressed concern that those advancements are coming too slowly. This glacially slow pace is wholly inadequate to meet the pressing needs of the climate crisis.
“But it’s not nearly fast enough for what’s needed,” – Kelly Levin
Wildfires have become an even greater threat, wreaking havoc on areas like Hawaii, California, and much of Europe and Australia. In 2023, unprecedented extreme heat has invaded traditional harbingers of such heat waves, including India and the Middle East. They’ve advanced into regions formerly thought immune to their range, such as the Pacific Northwest of North America and even parts of Siberia in Russia.
“We’re actually in the direction that we established in Paris at a speed that none of us could have predicted,” – Christiana Figueres
Experts make clear that more definitive action is required.
“The gap between the progress that we see on the ground and where we ought to be, that gap is still there and widening,” – Christiana Figueres
The reality on ground is a double-edged sword leading to optimistic, critical and neutral assessments on the progress achieved since 2015. Joanna Depledge commented that although there has been progress, it doesn’t mean we’ve won.
“Unfortunately, it is one of those half-full, half-empty situations where you can’t say it’s failed. But then nor can you say it’s dramatically succeeded,” – Joanna Depledge
Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, insisted that we need truth-telling in assessing climate progress.
“We’re sort of sawing the branch on which we are sitting,” – Inger Andersen
Johan Rockstrom emphasized the importance of honest assessments regarding climate progress.
“I think it’s important that we’re honest with the world and we declare failure,” – Johan Rockstrom
