Saving energy at home, taking public transportation, using a bike or electric vehicle to work and school, not wasting so much food, and more activities are some ways to take actions regarding our climate crisis. However, this kind of action is run by individuals, and maybe some of you think that implementing this kind of action is not really necessary. Because, if one individual doesn’t, there are still the others who perform the actions.
The fact is, based on the Emissions Gap Report (EGP) 2020, the global average of emissions was 6.3 TONS OF CO2 EQUIVALENT PER PERSON. Wow, that is really a big amount of carbon, right? Imagine, if there are 7,8 billion people in the world, and a single individual producing 6.3 tons of carbon, that will be 49.140 tons of carbon EVERY YEAR IN OUR EARTH. Now, do you really think this is not necessary?
At this point, based on the 2022 Emissions Gap Report, by the end of the century there will be a global temperature rise in place to a 2.8°C. When we still stay on today’s practice in limiting carbon emissions, it will only reduce the temperature rise to a 2.4-2.6°C, outrageously far from the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to well below 2°C, preferably 1.5°C.
To prevent this climate disaster and reach the Paris Agreement goal, the average emissions-per-person per year need to significantly drop to around 2-2.5 tons by 2030. To achieve that number, only a serious action and an urgent system-wide transformation can deliver the enormous cuts needed by 45%. So, how can we preserve a liveable climate and make a commitment to this serious action?
The actions needed for these kinds of goals not only come from the big system, but also from the smaller and the smallest system living in our world. The climate agreement by the UN, the policy made by the government, the programs made by some corporations and organizations, and other bigger actions can only make the goal if we also start the actions from the bottom: ourselves.
Save energy at home, take public transportation or start to walk or bike, consume more plant-based products, not waste food, reduce, reuse, repair, and recycle, using sustainable energy, and the most important is to speak up and take actions. Reducing the carbon footprint from our individual practices will help tackle the climate crisis, and the actions start from you!
Source: UN, UNEP
