The Future of Environmental Sustainability

Recently it was announced that President Obama and President Xi Jinping of China formally committed the world’s two largest economies to the Paris climate agreement, cementing their partnership on climate change.  This is a significant moment in history and moving into the future, as the US and China represent the two largest carbon-emission polluters on the planet. Together, they generate nearly 40 percent of the world’s emissions. 

Change is happening around the world

Virtually every nation on the planet has signed on to the Paris climate accords, which takes effect in 2020.The agreement sets out a global action plan to put the world on track to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2°C. above pre-industrial levels. 

“So… what’s the point,” you say?

Simply this – there is an inevitable worldwide CHANGE taking place. In fact, where global adoption of clean energy options is concerned, you might say…

CHANGE is not only likely, it’s inevitable!

Here are some projections-

• It’s estimated, by 2040, zero-emission energy sources will account for 60% of installed capacity.
• Electric vehicles will represent 35% of new light-duty vehicle sales in 2040, a 90% increase from 2015.
• Solar and wind become the cheapest ways of producing electricity in many countries during the 2020s and in most of the word in the 2030s. Onshore wind costs fall by 41 percent and solar PV costs fall by 60 percent by 2040. (Bloomberg)
• Carbon reduction commitments by 300 of the world’s largest companies currently amount to 3.7 billion metric tons of CO2 equivalent a year. This represents over 60 percent of the total emissions cuts (6 billion metric tons by 2030) pledged by all countries in the Paris Climate Agreement—equal to shuttering almost 75 percent of the world’s total coal plants. (The CDP)

It’s clear that the global paradigm shifts away from “business as usual” fossil fuels to renewable sources is being embraced as a way to slow, then reverse, global warming in the future.