No. 54October 28, 2021
All Out to Humanize the Natural and Social Environment
Worldwide Mobilizations Demand Action on Climate Change on Eve of Climate Summit
On the eve of the United Nations Climate Summit COP26 starting in Glasgow, Scotland on Sunday, October 31, workers, women and youth and their collectives around the world, as well as international bodies, are in action to protect the environment and the world’s people who are threatened by the consequences of industrial pollution and destruction of Mother Earth for private gain.
Youth Global Day of Action October 29
“On October 29 people will come together to stand against the financing of fossil fuel projects in a day of global protest against banks, investors and insurers who finance the climate crisis. Our demand: Turn off the money pipeline for fossil fuels. NOW.”
For a list of actions in the UK, Germany, Canada, U.S. and France click here.
Recent Reports on Effects of Climate Change and Countries’ Responses
Recent reports from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) underscore the serious situation regarding the current state of the natural environment and the necessity for urgent action, as demanded by the peoples of the world.
On October 25, the WMO in a press release on its Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, reported that “The abundance of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere once again reached a new record last year, with the annual rate of increase above the 2011-2020 average. That trend has continued in 2021 […]”
The WMO Bulletin notes that “The economic slowdown from COVID-19 did not have any discernible impact on the atmospheric levels of greenhouse gases and their growth rates, although there was a temporary decline in new emissions.
“As long as emissions continue, global temperature will continue to rise. Given the long life of CO2, the temperature level already observed will persist for several decades even if emissions are rapidly reduced to net zero. Alongside rising temperatures, this means more weather extremes including intense heat and rainfall, ice melt, sea-level rise and ocean acidification, accompanied by far-reaching socioeconomic impacts.
“Roughly half of the CO2 emitted by human activities today remains in the atmosphere. The other half is taken up by oceans and land ecosystems. The Bulletin flagged concern that the ability of land ecosystems and oceans to act as ‘sinks’ may become less effective in future, thus reducing their ability to absorb carbon dioxide and act as a buffer against larger temperature increase.”
For its part, on October 26, UNEP reported that “New and updated climate commitments fall far short of what is needed to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, leaving the world on track for a global temperature rise of at least 2.7 C this century, according to [its] latest Emissions Gap Report 2021: The Heat Is On. […]
The report finds that “net-zero pledges could make a big difference. If fully implemented, these pledges could bring the predicted global temperature rise to 2.2 C, providing hope that further action could still head off the most-catastrophic impacts of climate change. However, net-zero pledges are still vague, incomplete in many cases, and inconsistent with most 2030 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
“Climate change is no longer a future problem. It is a now problem,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. “To stand a chance of limiting global warming to 1.5 C, we have eight years to almost halve greenhouse gas emissions: eight years to make the plans, put in place the policies, implement them and ultimately deliver the cuts. The clock is ticking loudly.”
As of September 20, 120 countries, representing just over half of global greenhouse gas emissions, had communicated new or updated NDCs. In addition, three G20 members have announced other new mitigation pledges for 2030, the UNEP reports.
On October 26 the WMO also reported on the situation in Asia. Titled The State of the Climate in Asia 2020, the report provides an overview of the effects of climate change on this continent as concerns ocean temperatures, precipitation, glacier retreat, shrinking sea ice, sea level rise and severe weather. It examines socio-economic impacts in a year when the region was also struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic, which in turn complicated disaster management. The report shows how every part of Asia was affected, from Himalayan peaks to low-lying coastal areas, from densely populated cities to deserts and from the Arctic to the Arabian seas.
Asia has a population of 4.51 billion people (out of the world’s total population of 7.8 billion) and makes up about 30 per cent of the world’s total land area. A press release announcing the report explained, “Extreme weather and climate change impacts across Asia in 2020 caused the loss of life of thousands of people, displaced millions of others and cost hundreds of billions of dollars, while wreaking a heavy toll on infrastructure and ecosystems. Sustainable development is threatened, with food and water insecurity, health risks and environmental degradation on the rise, […]”
An October 26 press release of stand.earth reports that the fossil fuel divest-invest movement has released a report on how many institutions have committed to some form of fossil fuel divestment. Institutions include governments, cultural institutions, corporations, NGOs, health care institutions, pension funds, philanthropic and faith-based organizations and educational institutions.
Including new commitments from Rio de Janeiro, Glasgow, Paris, Seattle, Auckland and Copenhagen and 70 faith institutions, institutions representing $39.2 trillion worth of assets have committed to some form of fossil fuel divestment. This is a total of 1,485 institutions from 71 countries.
Stand.earth reports as well that student activists in the U.S. continue campaigns for state attorneys general to intervene against legal violations caused by university investment in fossil fuel companies at U.S. universities, Johns Hopkins, the University of New Mexico and Marquette University following a success at Harvard University earlier this year.
Actions Take Place Around the World Ahead of Climate Summit to Demand Action
In the days ahead of COP26, actions are taking place around the world. The actions put forward the people’s demands for immediate measures to be taken to address the climate crisis in a manner which favours their well-being and that of the natural and social environment. Further actions are planned to take place during the two-week summit. Below are photos of some of the actions.
Scotland
England
Wales
Spain
France
Germany
Denmark
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Kenya
Congo
South Africa
Bangladesh
China
Philippines
Australia
USA
(Collective Break Free Suisse, Extinction Rebellion, H. Chow, A. Sarraoglu, G. Thunberg, 350 Pilipinas,, Yun Ye, the Bristol Activist, Cynthia W., Oil Gas Action Network, HS4CJ, Rise and Resist, Tomorrow Move, Fridays for Future, Audley B., Mark Richards, S. Doneck, E. Kowenje, M. Tshabalala)
(To access articles individually click on the black headline.)
Send your articles, photographs, reports, views and comments to editormlpc@cpcml.ca
