As the metaphor goes, “time” has become equivalent to sand, slipping out of our hands, the future; knocking on the door and with it the dread of things to come.
If you have been updated with the climate news recently you would know what we mean and even if you have not, we think we all know that as the residents of earth we are at a very crucial point regarding its health. And according to our collected data, this year, 2022 is very important for climate action for climate change.
While the previous year the COP26 had opened opportunities for the business and political sector to do their part for climate change, this year seems to hold opportunities for the “science and research sector”. The UN CLIMATE CHANGE AGENDA FOR 2022 has already listed how science and research are important aspects in their action plan for the year.
To know more about this you can visit https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/why-2022-will-matter-climate-action-0 and look at the 10g key global UN events taking place this year.
To push forward the agenda of climate action with research and science there have been many organizations working on devising plans. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is scheduled to release its assessment of the latest research into how climate warming is affecting people and ecosystems with plans for the panel to provide possible solutions for the same. But with the government's goal being “innovation” the job of researchers goes further than just IPCC and UN. Researchers need to get involved in a lot of research work and problem-solving to truly aid the government's agenda of innovation and replacement of all toxic substances in nature with green energy. Apart from action against carbon emissions and work towards solar energy, efforts are also to be exercised on ideas related to making vehicles powered by electricity and hydrogen and innovation of low carbon fuel for engines that cannot run on electricity.
While the approach led by the government is a hopeful and positive one, such clean-energy deployments are unlikely to be enough to enable countries to keep their climate commitments. The need of the hour is more innovations— for example, in the form of technologies that can pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Governments and funders also need to support scientists in efforts to understand the safety and efficacy of various methods for artificially cooling the planet, such as the addition of particles to the stratosphere to reflect sunlight into space and whether such alternative measures are even possible.
Other than their work regarding innovations and development, scientists also have a crucial part to play in the evaluation of the work undertaken for climate action and climate policies while also tracking the commitments made by the government. Most of the innovations that gained traction at COP26 need the aid of science to succeed. It is the work of scientists to evaluate how the money that wealthy nations have committed to, is helping low-income nations to curb emissions and cope with climate change is spent. Research is also needed to understand the impacts of carbon offsets and carbon trading, for which new rules were agreed at COP26.
Furthermore, in an optimistic light: with all these ideas noted there have been various signs of support and progress made by countries all around the world for work on research and development regarding climate change. According to our collected data about this progress we have found that In Glasgow, 22 countries, as well as the European Commission (EC), announced plans to cooperate on innovation focused on greening cities, curbing industrial emissions, promoting CO2 capture, and developing renewable fuels, chemicals, and materials. They have also announced efforts to drive new funds into demonstration projects to help commercialize low-carbon technologies. Other countries like China, currently the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, are said to be creating a vast research infrastructure focused on technologies that will help to eliminate carbon emissions. Apart from that, first-world countries like the USA have also made efforts towards climate change by passing a bipartisan bill that will help expand green infrastructure, as well as providing nearly US$42 billion for clean-energy research and development at the US Department of Energy over the next 5 years.
Climate science or the study of climate in a scientific manner is crucial for us right now to understand the working of climate and the actions needed against it to minimize the hazards as much as possible. To know more about this agenda and the plans and to support of organizations for it, you can visit the official UN website or look up the efforts and effects of science on climate action for climate change.
