Biden wants to reinstate the United States as a world leader on climate change. Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon has dismissed Greta Thunberg’s claim that Scotland is a world leader on climate change. China is on track to meet its climate change targets, but is not yet a world leader. Education can help avoid emissions of 85 gigatons of carbon dioxide by 2050.
Biden wants to reintroduce U.S. as a world leader on climate change
With a pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 to 52 percent by 2030, President Joe Biden wants to reintroduce the United States as a global leader on climate change. But he may have trouble achieving his goal. His climate plans are complicated by ongoing haggling in Congress.
To achieve his goal of a more climate-friendly nation, Biden wants to make sure government agencies reduce their carbon footprints. For example, he wants to end federal loans to coal-fired power plants. He also wants to strengthen Interior Department pollution controls and reinstate Obama-era EPA regulations.
On Earth Day, Biden plans to convene world leaders to discuss climate change. At the summit, he will lay out two goals: first, he wants to engage with the world’s largest economic powers and key emitters. Second, he wants to encourage cooperation and support for climate action worldwide. The US is roughly the size of the UK, Japan, and South Korea, so it will be much harder to achieve this goal than other nations.
Biden also wants to end America’s near-pariah status on the international stage. By joining the Paris climate agreement, the U.S. will reintroduce itself as a leader in addressing the global threat of climate change. The US was the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases under Donald Trump.
Climate change is an urgent issue that requires whole-government response. President-elect Biden has outlined a comprehensive climate change policy that will transform the country’s economy. The new administration will have a lot of work to do to repair the damage done by the Trump Administration’s pro-fossil-fuel agenda.
Nicola Sturgeon dismisses Greta Thunberg’s claim that Scotland is a world leader on climate change
Nicola Sturgeon has dismissed Greta Thunberg’s claim to Scotland that the country is a climate leader by saying the claim is “misplaced”. Greta Thunberg is a Swedish environmental activist who has never been to Scotland, but she plans to visit the country soon to learn about its climate policies. She said: “I’m very excited to come to Scotland and meet the people and see for myself how Scotland is a leader on climate change”.
Nicola Sturgeon has responded to Greta Thunberg’s claim by saying: “I don’t believe that Scotland is a world leader on climate, and I don’t believe Scotland is a world leader on climate.” Sturgeon said Thunberg was “completely opposed” to the proposed Cambo oil field.
Greta Thunberg has been criticising world leaders for not doing enough to tackle climate change. The Greens in Scotland acknowledge that countries need to do more, but they don’t see this as a reason to dismiss Scotland’s claims that it is a world leader.
Greta Thunberg’s comments on Greta Sturgeon’s statement about Scotland’s role as a climate leader come just a couple of months before the COP26 summit. She also criticised the Scottish Government’s decision to include the Scottish Greens in the government.
Greta Thunberg is a 15-year-old activist from Sweden. Her silent protest outside the Swedish parliament has garnered global attention. She is the voice of a new generation of activists who are fighting against climate change.
A recent study released by the International Energy Agency shows that the world can limit global warming to 1.8 degrees Celsius by the year 2100. This is 3.2 degrees Fahrenheit and is well within reach of the threshold that scientists say will trigger catastrophic consequences. Nevertheless, the planet has already warmed by 1.1 degrees.
China is already on the way to meeting climate change
China’s carbon emissions dwarf those of most other countries, so the country is in a good position to meet its climate change commitments. In a speech in Copenhagen, President Xi Jinping declared that the country aimed to reach peak emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. But he has not provided any details on how the country plans to meet these goals.
The country is a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol, which require all countries to reduce greenhouse gases. China submitted its Nationally Determined Contribution in 2016 under the Paris Agreement, and updated it ahead of the COP26 UN climate conference in November 2021. In its updated NDC, China reaffirms its earlier pledges to reach carbon neutrality by 2060 and peak emissions by 2030. The country also pledged to increase its non-fossil fuel energy consumption to 25% of total energy consumption.
The country’s emissions are already half that of the United States, which has 1.4 billion people. But Beijing is still struggling to shift from coal to renewable energy. Even its massive build-out of wind and solar energy cannot keep pace with energy demand in the short term. This means that China will have to find a way to transition from coal to clean energy before it can reach its target.
A 3-degree world could mean sea-level rise, more extreme weather and mass starvation. Beijing’s climate policies are consistent with the 3-degree world scenario, a dangerous scenario that threatens humanity’s existence. The two nations have a great deal in common and have a lot of room to cooperate. Xi Jinping also announced that China is on track to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
Education can help to avoid 85 gigatons of carbon dioxide by 2050
The 2020 Drawdown analysis has identified two major solutions: education and reproductive health. When combined, these two solutions can prevent the emission of 85 gigatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere by 2050. As the second and fifth most effective solutions in the study, education and reproductive health are both vital in fighting global warming. However, both solutions are not equally effective. This is why the solution combining the two is important for the future of the planet.
In addition to education, universal family planning is another important solution. This can help to bend population growth downward, thereby reducing CO2 emissions. In fact, joint family planning can reduce emissions by 103 gigatonnes by 2050. This is a big reduction.
By developing personal agency, education can also help to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. For example, 16 percent of high school students could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 19 gigatons by 2050 if they were to be aware of the effects of their daily behaviors. Similarly, if 100 percent of students in the world absorbed this information, they would be able to reduce their carbon footprint by 80 gigatons by 2050.
In addition to addressing climate change, education can also help to increase young people’s capacity to adapt to the consequences of climate change. To do so, young people need to have a strong knowledge of the causes of global warming, as well as real-world skills like teamwork, negotiation, and problem-solving.
Suriname and Bhutan are leading the way
Suriname and Bhutan are pioneering new ways to combat climate change. The countries have pledged to work towards carbon negative economies to compensate for global warming gasses. These countries are also committed to maintaining the integrity of their forests, which act as a carbon sink. They also pledge to diversify their economies to create the conditions necessary for sustainable development.
Both Suriname and Bhutan are carbon negative countries, meaning that they absorb more carbon dioxide than they produce. Their governments are also implementing policies to protect forests and reduce waste. Through these efforts, they are demonstrating that it is possible to become carbon negative and become self-reliant on renewable energy sources. Such initiatives are an example of how leadership can lead the way in fighting global warming and making our planet more sustainable.
Bhutan is also a climate leader, balancing economic growth with the preservation of its environment. The country’s constitution aims to protect 60 percent of its land area as forest. In addition, both countries are committed to avoiding deforestation and have a high rate of forest cover.
Despite the small size of their economies, both countries are taking steps to combat climate change. Their commitments to the environment are apparent through the free electricity they offer to rural farmers and investment in sustainable transport. They also have programs like the Civilian Climate Corps that involve young people in planting trees.
