Climate change policy: Implications and Failures

In the same week that the world's average temperature reached a new high, the UK was rumoured to be scrapping their £11.6bn climate pledge in what would ultimately be a failure in their global climate change policy. However, what are the implications and importance of maintaining these policies, and where are they failing?

On July 3rd, 2023, the world's average temperature reached a new high, topping 17 degrees Celsius for the first time. This record will most likely be broken as summer goes on, but recent emissions of carbon dioxide, in combination with the effects of El Niño, have brought scorching temperatures. When added to a drop in Antarctic sea ice, which is 2.5 million sq km less than the average for this time of year, there are fears that these extreme changes could build up to deliver a catastrophic climate storm.

This comes just as the UK government is drawing up plans to drop their £11.6bn climate and nature funding pledge to help developing countries. While understandably considered a betrayal to populations most vulnerable to global warming, Rishi Sunak and his government's decision are not solely to blame. The war in Ukraine and the cost of living crisis have also contributed to causing deterrence to spending on climate.

While the UK has underspent and will unlikely meet its targets by 2026, consumers are also increasingly reluctant to adopt climate strategies that may change their lifestyle or impose restrictions, for example, on travel or fuel, despite the high risks.

Climate change policies are on route to a catastrophic breakdown

Current policies to tackle climate change are not doing enough. Governments have failed to take the necessary actions to fulfil promises made towards their voters and to other governments and peers in summits.

Today, the promises made to protect the climate and deploy measures to achieve global targets, such as plans to limit global heating by 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, have yet to be met. Instead, pledges have been submitted that would only restrict temperatures to under 2C, beyond the safety limit.

However, the policies and measures implemented by most governments will lead to even greater temperature rises that go beyond the safety threshold, reaching a potential increase of 3.6C. This would exacerbate extreme weather, rising sea levels and irreversible changes in climate worldwide.

The same governments that agreed to limit global warming in COP15 must now be asked to respond to where their efforts have reached now that we enter the critical stages of greenhouse gas reduction.

We have already passed the stage where this is a warning. Instead, we are already facing the consequences of irresponsible governance. Each COP summit is no longer a matter of how to prevent climate change but of how to live with it and mitigate its damage.

There is little time to waste in limiting climate change policy

Looking back at the reports of extreme weather in 2022 and the droughts, floods and heatwaves in 2023, the facts suggest that there is little time to waste. Climate change policies have failed, but climate change is progressing. Harvests are failing, leading to food insecurity, and animal diseases are spreading, reducing livestock and threatening everyone's health.

Governments must resist the urge to step back on their pledges or to begin to brag about who has done more for the climate during electoral debates and proactively act against climate change while also dealing with other pressing crises.

This includes taking sacrifices that will seem unpopular, such as making finance available to poorer countries to help them cope with the impacts of climate change and of man-made hazards that richer countries have provoked.

A climate-safe future will bring all-round prosperity

Current economic and geopolitical challenges can be an obstacle to climate change strategies. However, government leaders that deliver on their institutional pledges would ultimately benefit the planet, its inhabitants, its resources and the prosperity of all.

Governments are currently grappling with high energy and cost of living prices, yet the timing is still optimal for a swift switch to clean energy. This will require taking a step back from investment in fossil fuels and adding an extra focus on incentivising the transition to cleaner energy paths. Funding coal is no longer a viable option and is ultimately a dead-end for prosperity and for the planet.

The stakes are high if this transition is not achieved, with notable disruptions worldwide ranging from extreme heatwaves, species extinction, floods, droughts and crop failures over the next two decades.

Conservation and risk mitigation should figure in every agenda

The UN'S Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has also insisted on the need to deploy adaptation measures that address and mitigate the impacts of climate change. This can be done through increased finance and political support for the conservation of natural habitats, such as coral reefs and mangroves, and increased efforts to restore degraded ecosystems and achieve sustainable development. This will require collective efforts from governments, the private sector, and society to make decisions that prioritise risk reduction and incorporate nature into cities and strategic infrastructure projects.

Ten years have passed since IPCC warned about the risks of climate change in their 2013 report. Much has changed, most significantly that many warnings have become real-life circumstances, and many institutional promises have been tainted by grave inaction. Climate change is no longer a future problem that will affect our children but today's problem due to yesterday's failings. A knee-jerk reaction may take place. The foundations have been set, and it's time to put them into action.