Has climate change opinion reached a ‘social tipping point’? Yes, evidence suggests
- A flurry of activity in sectors from energy and industry to finance has experts wondering whether the world is, at long last, turning the corner on climate
- ‘We will get to a point where it will seem as unthinkable to use fossil fuel energy as it is to have slaves,’ one expert says
Changing sentiment worldwide could be the tipping point for the planet’s fight against climate change.
China, the world’s biggest carbon polluter, plans to reduce carbon emissions per unit of gross domestic product by 18 per cent and boost non-fossil fuels to 20 per cent of energy to ensure carbon emissions peak by 2030, Premier Li Keqiang announced at the National People’s Congress in early March.
The US and the EU promise carbon neutrality by mid-century; solar and wind power continued to surge even as global GDP shrank 5 per cent in 2020; two-thirds of humanity see a “climate emergency”; a top-five car manufacturer says it will only make zero-emission vehicles after 2035; major investors recoil from coal, while fossil fuel companies shrivel in value.
Yet there are still many reasons for pessimism. UN chief Antonio Guterres has recently noted that net-zero promises notwithstanding, “governments are nowhere close to the level of ambition needed to limit climate change to 1.5 degrees Celsius and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement”. The 2015 treaty calls for capping global warming at “well below” 2 degrees Celsius compared to preindustrial levels, and the world is currently on track for double that.
In early March, the International Energy Agency reported that global CO2 emissions have returned to pre-pandemic levels.
But a flurry of activity in all sectors – energy, industry, geopolitics, finance, public opinion – has experts wondering whether the world is, at long last, turning the corner on climate.