Now that climate deniers are in power in the US and Trump has pulled out of the Paris Treaty, the rest of the world can’t currently count on US leadership to help the world mitigate the potentially catastrophic effects of global climate change. It may indeed be the case that we have gone too far already and that catastrophic effects are, as it were, baked into the system. As we work on (and hope) for decisive, currently unimaginable technological and/or scientific solutions to the the problem of climate change, it seems we must shift serious attention to a kind of harm reduction model.
I took some kind of solace in an article in today’s Guardian: Leaders move past Trump to protect world from climate change. There are significant world leaders and influencers—politicians, thought leaders, scientists, business leaders, who are coming together to try to help mitigate some of the suffering that will be wrought by global climate change.
Far too little is being done to protect people from the heatwaves, storms and floods being supercharged by climate change, according to a high-level international commission. It aims to rebuild the political will to act that was damaged when US president, Donald Trump, rejected the global Paris agreement.
The Global Commission on Adaptation is being led by Ban Ki-Moon, Bill Gates and Kristalina Georgieva, CEO of the World Bank. It involves 17 countries including China, India, South Africa, Indonesia, Canada and the UK.
Although Trump and his administration of climate change deniers, aided and abetted by criminally short-sighted, selfish Republican politicians, are at best a drag on such efforts, we cannot allow them to become successful obstructers. Having the involvement of China and India in this project is crucial.
According to its website:
The Global Center on Adaptation acts as a solutions broker, bringing together governments, the private sector, civil society, intergovernmental bodies, and knowledge institutions that can address the obstacles slowing down adaptation action.
Involving the titans of business is going to be crucial to the cause—not only because they have the capital needed for massive projects, but because they also have the power and political capital to pressure governments.
“Scientists and economists believe the cost of adaptation could rise to $500bn per year by 2050 and, in the mid-term, $300bn by 2030,” said Ban. This money is available, he said: “I don’t think it is a matter of [getting the] money. The money can be mobilised. If there is political will, I think we can handle this matter.”
In particular, the trillions of dollars held by investment managers and insurers should be put to work, Ban said: “We should not expect all this money to come from governments. The private sector has to be fully engaged.” He said 63% of the $380bn invested in cutting emissions in 2015-16 was from the private sector.
Is there political will? Perhaps not in the current U.S. administration and congress. But the people are actually the driving force of political will. So it is more crucial than ever to express that political will during these midterm elections.
US politics is actually a global affair because of the urgency of climate change. But one way or the other, we cannot let the deniers prevail—that is none other than a total loss for all.