We Could Put the Brakes on Climate Change, if We Wanted

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It isn’t too late to halt climate change and bring carbon emissions down to levels which will significantly reduce the damage being caused to the planet. We still have the opportunity to fix the mess humanity has made. The clock is ticking before things get so bad that fixing them might not be possible. But there are just over nine years left for us to take action. If we work together, we can make the changes necessary to guarantee a brighter future for us all.

To hit the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) target of restricting global warming to 1.5 degrees, there are many things we could all do. The obvious thing is to stop burning fossil fuels as they are responsible for the vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions. While that might sound simple, changing the way we live so we don’t burn as much fossil fuels could be quite hard. Although as the coronavirus pandemic shows, we are prepared to make significant changes to our lives if we recognise the necessity.

“In order to stop climate change there are two things to do”, Johanna Köb, head of responsible investment for Zurich told VICE. “You stop putting carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, by not burning fossil fuels. That means we need to switch our energy system to non-fossil, and we need to stop burning oil in the form of gasoline and kerosene.”

The other thing which needs to happen, Köb explained, is to absorb greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. “The mechanism to absorb such greenhouse gases are called carbon sinks. There are natural ones, such as the ocean, but the ocean has already taken up so much CO2 that now it's starting to get acidic, there's not a lot of potential left. Other natural carbon sinks are trees, other plant life and healthy soils. That's why it's so important to stop deforestation and move to a more regenerative agricultural system. Then there are technical carbon sinks, such as carbon capture and storage technologies, which need to be scaled.”

Reducing fossil fuel emissions would be easy if we completely change the way we run our society, our economy, our transport system and our energy system. To make our energy system more sustainable we first and foremost would need to stop burning coal according to Köb. Other fossil fuels then need to follow. Industries, businesses and consumers can all play a part in making these changes.

In part this could be done by increasing the amount of renewable energy, although we will need to reduce our energy consumption to make this work. Köb said: “One of the reasons it's so hard to scale renewables, although we're building them like crazy, is because our energy use keeps going up. All of us need to use less energy and become energy efficient.”

If we want to reduce carbon emissions another thing we could do is change how we travel. John Scott, head of sustainability risk at Zurich told VICE: “For short journeys, like less than three kilometres, we should be encouraging people to avoid using carbon intensive transport. Either use public transport or get on your bike or walk. For things like flights under an hour, people need to try and find low carbon alternatives, which essentially is truly electric trains fuelled by low carbon electricity.”

To ensure people start travelling sustainability there are a few things we could do. Scott said: “You can appeal to people through their better nature to do something, and many people will do it, but many other people won't. We could regulate or create legislation. We could put in place carbon pricing, which would send economic signals to people that, ‘wow, that's going to be really expensive to fly for an hour’.”

If we wanted to make this work for people, we could also subsidise train travel or invest in higher speed rail links which could help make travelling by train more appealing. There’s even more we could do according to Scott, such as using electric or hydrogen-powered vehicles. There are already hydrogen buses in lots of cities, these could be used everywhere.

We can also make changes to what we eat. Eating less red meat would not only let us live healthier lives but it would play a part in bringing down carbon emissions. The way we produce red meat is bad for the environment, releases lots of greenhouse gases and causes deforestation.

If we start to make these changes across every level of our society we could bring carbon emissions down rapidly and in enough time to limit the impacts of climate change. We also have the opportunity to learn the lessons from globalisation and ensure there’s a ‘just transition’ to a low-carbon society. We don’t have to repeat the mistakes of the past. If we ensure that nobody is left behind by these changes, we’ll be creating a brighter future for all.

Interested in Climate Change? Listen to Zurich’s Climate Risks Podcast Series

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