Here Come the Reports

In the lead up to COP26, a number of organizations are releasing climate reports. From places as disparate as the Lancet (a leading medical journal), the Pentagon, and the UN, these reports are tackling the climate problem from various angles. In the coming week, I expect we’ll see a few more released, along with an increase in the typically modest coverage of climate in the media.

Not surprisingly, these reports are bleak. One study showed that the promised “green” recovery from Covid19 was really a boon to fossil fuel production. Another indicated that most fossil fuel-producing countries plan to increase their production in the next decade. The Lancet called climate “the defining narrative of human health”.

These reports are just the climax on a year of very dire and increasingly desperate reports outlining the crisis. In August, the UN Secretary called climate change a “code red for humanity“, and people have started adopting that terminology in subsequent coverage.

Unfortunately, all of these warnings have lead to almost zero action. President Biden’s climate plan is being stifled by one obstinate senator. An energy crisis grips much of the world, and the climate disasters keep coming. These reports only confirm what we already know: things are bad.

It would be very easy for someone like me (and maybe someone like you) to get lost in these reports. We must fight the urge to give up. No matter what happens, no matter how bad things get, we can still try to move forward. Any climate mitigation and adaptation is going to help in the long run, even if we miss all of our targets.

COP26 will be full of a lot of pretty talk, and we may even get a few big commitments, but commitments are meaningless without real action. Under the current level of commitments, we would still warm 2.7^o C by the end of the century. And we aren’t even on pace to hit those commitments.

I’ve been feeling rather defeated recently. Joe Manchin’s greed and/or stupidity is just too much to handle. The arguments against climate action are silly, and even though I try to give him the benefit of the doubt, it’s getting harder and harder. I guess it isn’t surprising that a guy whose personal fortune is heavily invested in fossil fuels would stand tall for them.

That’s all for now. Be safe and have a great weekend.