Ten years.
That’s about how much time the United Nations says is left to substantially change policies so the Earth can avoid the worst effects of climate change.
And how have world governments been doing in the year since their leaders promised to stop relying so much on burning fossil fuels, which send greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and heat the planet?
We wish we could say baby steps, at least.
Instead, countries have essentially made no progress at all, the United Nations said in a report issued on Thursday. Instead, the world has seen record emissions and record heat.
Everyone, even those who think they don’t reside in areas that will be heavily affected by climate change, should make it a priority to do all they can to reverse this — yes, let’s say it — apocalyptic direction.
The Washington, D.C., publication The Hill, for example, reports the number of billion-dollar-plus climate disasters in our nation just keeps going up every year. Last year, there were 28 such disasters, and there have been 24 this year, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information. As the number of those disasters increases, the livability of cities, towns and communities heads in a downward spiral.
Private insurance companies can’t cover all those losses, leaving many properties uninsured and property owners at risk of financial ruin. At a time when governments need to step up to repair damage and build up resiliency, they will struggle because of lost revenue as property values — and property taxes — fall or people move away.
Next month, representatives of nearly 200 world governments will meet at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, to set a new climate finance target for the “global south,” a group of more than 100 nations roughly on the southern part of the globe.
But as yet another sign climate change is not getting the support it should, the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change is running short by nearly half of the money it needs to operate yearly climate negotiations among nearly 200 world governments and to bring agreements to reality, Reuters reported on Friday.
The Chicago area — and Illinois as a whole — can do their part by stepping up efforts to employ nature-based solutions such as reforesting to reduce the number of urban heat islands and capture carbon, restoring wetlands and employing better agricultural practices.
There is a lot to do in 10 years. The time to get all hands on deck is now.
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