Statement on the Interview with Prof. Jean Pascal van Ypersele By Oladosu Adenike on the Latest IPCC report: The Physical Science

 

Statement on the Interview with Prof. Jean Pascal van Ypersele by Oladosu Adenike on the Latest IPCC Report: The Physical Science.

"...the cleanness of energy is the energy we don't use...."

Since 1990, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been sending a strong signal to the world of the dangerous impacts of climate change. Now those reports are now a reality which shows that, climate science is not failing rather we are not listening to the science. This time it calls us all to be united behind the science. Some of those existential questions that this interview with Jean Pascal van Ypersele, the former Vice Chair of the IPCC on the latest report – physical science, seeks to address are more but not limited to these; are we listening yet? Are the current climate commitments sufficient to meet the standard of this report in tackling the climate crisis? Do we need new commitments or to build on the previous once? What will it take for the world to act on the climate crisis? And from all indications, we are not yet on the tract in winning the race against the climate crises. Also, it is almost impossible to deny climate change if you understand the science behind the changes in our climate. That is why climate education is essential in understanding the science behind the climate crisis. This is one of those lenses that the I Lead Climate is integrating into this interview in bringing the climate science at our reach in the simplest form as possible. This will help people of different ages to join the movement for climate justice.

In 2018, I read the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in limiting global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius which propelled me to become an advocate for climate justice. Today, another kind of its report of four thousand pages has been released. During the interview on this report, he gave an overview on fact that “we can avoid the worst impact of climate change if we act now because we have not seen the worst impact yet.” And the important message is that, “the major fraction of the future is still in our hand.” Hence the ball is in our court to decide. He further explained that we emit more than what a natural system can absorb and likewise it is imperative to keep our forest and ocean inert because they absorb half of our emissions  while the remaining half accumulate in the atmosphere yet both the forest and ocean are faced with great threat due to human activities. This could be the contributing factors that are leading to extreme weather events and processes in our world today; from hailstorm to sandstorm. This is the biggest reality of our time.

This should resonate with us that “we don’t have 12 years nor 12 hours to act on the climate crisis, the time to act is now” because this are loopholes leaders use to postpone climate action into the future. Likewise, with the 40 billion of carbon emissions every year, we need a swift action. In the same vain as described by Jean Pascal, this report will highlight one of the major urgency to act. From the conversation, one of the pervasive issues in this decade is the rise in sea level through the melting of glaciers and ice sheet add huge quantity of water. one of those countries prune to the impact of the rising sea level is Nigeria – Lagos which might be covered by sea before the end of the century thereby affecting critical infrastructure; “if we are able to decrease the emissions from the green house gas in the coming decades, the further the sea level rise will be almost four times less possible than increasing emissions.” Hence, the better we progressively leave the fossil fuel on the ground, and then buy into renewable energy the better we are able to bit climate change.

Furthermore, “if we don’t mitigate green house gases, adaptation will become almost impossible or costly”. The current capacities to adapt to this impact especially in Africa aren’t sufficient compare to the reality on ground. Also, the commitments from world leaders aren’t enough to tackle the current projections of the impacts of climate change. The current projection of warming is 1.1 degree Celsius since pre-industrial time; it keeps increasing the frequency of cyclones, wildfire, droughts, and heat wave including other crises that we might be future within the nearest future if we don’t act. This is why we need to make this decade, a decade of political will and to keep advocating for climate education for all.

Check the interview at my YouTube Channel (The Ecofeminist Channel)

Oladosu Adenike (Oladosuadenike32@gmail.com) is an ecofeminist, ecoreporter and climate justice activist. She advocate for the restoration of Lake Chad.