We are at a crossroad

Peter du ToitI'm the founder of FutureWork IQ where I spend my time assisting businesses to improve their climate literacy so as to understand the projected impacts from the expanding climate crisis and how to adapt their workplaces in the face of these impacts.

The science is clear. To avert the catastrophic consequences of a world above 2°C we HAVE TO collectively reduce our 2030 CO2 emissions by 45% from 2010 levels and then reach net zero by 2050.

That’s the deal.

However, on Friday a new UN Climate Change report highlights that even with some adjusted pledges we are only on track to achieve a 0.5% reduction from 2010 levels by 2030.

Let that sink in:

Required: 45% reduction
Current Commitments: 0.5% reduction

“Today’s interim report from the UNFCCC is a red alert for our planet. It shows governments are nowhere close to the level of ambition needed to limit climate change to 1.5 degrees and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.” — António Guterres, UN Secretary General

What is it going to take?

Is it going to take that our lived experience becomes more heatwaves and hotter summers, greater sea level rise, worse droughts and rainfall extremes, wildfires, floods and food shortages resulting in waves of climate refugees and parts of the globe becoming uninhabitable?

Will we only act then?