This is a brief Essay Contrasting the
Salients of Our Book Titled” Empowering Climate Change Strategies With Bernard
Lonergan’s Method” With the Climate Change Policy of the newly elected
President of US Mr. Donald Trump .
Paris Agreement: At the Paris climate conference (
COP21) in December 2015, 195 countries adopted the first ever universal ,
legally binding global climate deal. The agreement sets out a global action
plan to put the world on track to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting
global warming to well below 20 C. The Paris agreement is a bridge
between today’s policies and climate
neutrality before the end of the end of the century.
Governments agreed:
1-
A
long term goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature to well
below 20 C above pre-industrial levels.
2-
To aim to limit the increase to 1.50C,
since this would significantly reduce risks and the impacts of climate change.
3-
On
the need for global emissions to peak as soon as possible , recognizing that
this will take longer for developing countries.
4-
To
undertake rapid reductions thereafter in accordance with the best available
science.
Before and
during the Paris conference , countries submitted comprehensive national
climate action plans ( (http://unfcc.int/focus/indc_portal/items/8766/.php). These are not yet enough to keep
global warming below 20C, but the agreement traces the way to
achieving this target.
Governments agreed to:
1-
Come
together every 5 years to set more ambitious targets as required by science.
2-
Report
to each other and the public on how well they are doing to implement their
targets.
3-
Track
progress towards the long term goal through a robust transparency and
accountability system.
Governments agreed to:
1-
Strengthen
society’s ability to deal with the impacts of climate change.
2-
Provide
continued and enhanced international support for adaptation to developing
countries .
The agreement also:
1-
Recognizes
the importance of averting , minimizing
and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of
climate change.
2-
Acknowledges
the need to cooperate and enhance the understanding , action and support in different areas such as early warning
systems , emergency preparedness and risk insurance.
How a 20C
temperature increase could change the planet?
The projections are dire: glaciers will continue to shrink ,
heat waves will be more frequent and the oceans will get warmer and more
acidic. A large majority of environmental scientists warn that if global
temperatures rise by more than 20
C above preindustrial levels , the consequences will be severe , and in some
cases irreversible. Before the International Conference on Climate Change set
in Paris in December , the UN recently
released a series of sobering forecasts that project what physical , social and
economic change can be expected at the end of the 21st CE if we
cross the 20C and perhaps even 40 C thresholds. There
will be a severe, pervasive and irreversible impact if average temperature rise
by 20C. Two degrees , at first glance , might seem an unremarkable ,
modest uptick in the temperature scale. But climate scientists warn that , in
an increasingly warming world , this measure in fact represents a magic number
–a crucial tipping point. Glaciers will
melt , ocean levels will rise and crop yields will falter.
President Elect Donald
Trump’s Climate Change Policy:
Many in the environmental community are in despair about the
prospect of a Trump presidency . Trump has promised to withdraw the US from
the Paris climate agreement , scrap
President Obama’s Clean Power Plan and
Climate Action Plan , roll back environmental regulations and increase dirty
energy. Former Vice President Al Gore is extending an olive branch to Trump to
collaborate with him and his administration to ensure that the US Climate
Change Policy remains in place. Otherwise , Trump’s presence in the WH could
spell gloom and doom for the IPCC. If
Gore isn’t successful at convincing Trump of the catastrophic consequences of
climate inaction , perhaps the Pentagon can get through to the next US’ next
Commander in Chief . The US military calls climate change a ‘threat
multiplier’ and is integrating climate
change into its national defense strategies . The Pentagon is prioritizing
climate change partly because of concerns that it could create conditions that
foster extremism and terrorism ---an issue that Trump said he wants to address.
Former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel wrote in the forward to the Pentagon 2014
climate report that’ while scientists
are converging toward consensus on
future climate projections, uncertainty remains. But this cannot be an excuse
for delaying action.’
Ijaz Durrani.
CC Strategies with Bernard Lonergan's Method contrasted with CCP of Trump.