We do not need a radical change, but we do need a systemic change in society.
The Covid-19 crisis may serve as a lever to intensify the climate crisis.
The rise in temperatures since 1980 has been in different phases; we are now at 1.1º. The increase is not uniform, but affects the poles more. The anthropic causes of the increase in temperatures are linked to the use of fossil fuels and land use. In 2018, 86% of the carbon in the atmosphere came from fossil fuels and 14% from changes in land use. Of this 100%, 44% remained in the atmosphere, 29% was sequestered by plants and 23% by the ocean. The CO2 in the atmosphere varies depending on the terrestrial sinks, which means plants. Today there are hopes that vegetation might be a solution to mitigate climate change.
If we want the temperature to rise no more than 1.5ºC by 2100, we only have 9% of CO2 left to emit, and at the current rate we will reach this in 10 years.
Climate change must be accepted as one of the challenges we face. We need to think about how we want to live and what well-being means. If we do this we will reach the conclusion that we have to make changes to protect nature and biodiversity and mitigate climate change. Everything is linked. We have to review the principles we want in our model of society.
Climate change and other crises need to be dealt with together. There are many ways to combat global warming, but many of them serve to fight the current pandemic and other crises that may come along in the future. The Covid-19 crisis may serve as a lever to intensify the climate crisis and vice versa. To cope with the current crises we need to undertake far-reaching changes in all areas.
We are dealing with a complex physical system associated with a complex social and economic system. We must realise that economy, environment and society are inter-related, and construct a more participative system to achieve the Green Deal framework Europe is aiming at. This means assessing what really sustains us.
We need not fear complexity. The health crisis is going to speed up the changes already envisaged before Covid-19. The sharp fall in pollution that occurred with lockdown is clear evidence that when we change our energy model, change will come. Without being radical, we need to switch to a greener, fairer society. We have to prove that this transformation is possible and also brings clear benefits to all in the medium and long term. We are already rethinking our energy model, our transport and our food system. Social awareness is a fact and this is driving the business world, where circular economy strategies are beginning to be put into practice.
