Hope On Climate Change - Reasons to Be Optimistic
TerraGreen|July 2021
The total commitments made under the Paris Agreement were too little to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, whereas scientists agree that limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is vital. Ajay Shankar says that recent developments give cause for optimism for the first time as the President of the USA has brought the USA back into the Paris Agreement and is providing leadership for a net carbon-neutral global economy. Also, India could set an example in the deployment of renewable energy installations as it is already leading the way with the dramatic increase in renewable energy generation in the last decade. Keep reading to know more about the latest developments…
Ajay Shankar
Hope On Climate Change - Reasons to Be Optimistic

The Paris Agreement on Climate Change in 2015 was a landmark achievement with all countries agreeing to act to save the planet from the impending disaster of global warming. But within a year, Donald Trump became the President of the USA and took America out of the Paris accord. The total commitments made under the agreement were too little to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, whereas scientists agree that limiting warming to 1.5 degrees is imperative. The actual achievements till COVID-19 hit the world were meagre. The prognosis for mankind appeared to be getting bleaker by the day.

But recent developments give cause for optimism for the first time. President Joe Biden campaigned for the Presidency with climate change as a major priority; one of his top four. As President, he has brought the US back into the Paris Agreement and is providing leadership for a net carbon-neutral global economy. Within the US he is positioning this transition as one which creates jobs and would aid faster economic recovery from the severe downturn caused by the pandemic. It is a key pillar of the massive infrastructure programme which he is trying to get through Congress. He has asked his Department of Energy to work out the implementation of his campaign pledge of having a fossil fuel-free electricity system in the US by 2035.

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