The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
  • Hangzhou Asian Games
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
  • Hangzhou Asian Games
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    Royal palaces in Seoul offer free access during Chuseok holiday

  • 3

    Travis King in US custody after expulsion by N. Korea: Washington officials

  • 5

    Koreans adapt to soaring food prices

  • 7

    American soldier who crossed into North Korea arrives back in the US, video appears to show

  • 9

    BTS' Jungkook to drop 2nd solo single

  • 11

    Korea wins gold in League of Legends competition; Faker tops podium

  • 13

    Over 2,200 aging applicants for reunions of separated families died this year: gov't data

  • 15

    N. Korea stipulates nuclear force-building policy in constitution

  • 17

    Korea claims third consecutive gold in men's team sabre fencing

  • 19

    S. Korea elected as IAEA board member for 2023-25

  • 2

    INTERVIEWRisk-averse culture is forcing daring creators to flee showbiz

  • 4

    Korean Baek In-chul wins stunning swimming gold

  • 6

    Education ministry prohibits parents from recording classes

  • 8

    Drug offenders using dark web increasing rapidly: report

  • 10

    Blinken to release Chuseok message for S. Koreans for 3rd year

  • 12

    BOK likely to stand pat again next month on Fed's rate freeze, slowdown

  • 14

    1st gold in Hangzhou leaves N. Korean shooters in tears

  • 16

    Daejeon hosts 14th int'l play festival

  • 18

    China launches first cross-sea bullet train line near Taiwan Strait

  • 20

    Kim Woo-min snatches gold in freestyle swimming

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to the Editor
Sat, September 30, 2023 | 15:57
Guest Column
New direction for planet's sake
Posted : 2019-07-26 15:54
Updated : 2019-07-26 16:47
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link
By Javier Solana

MADRID ― By July 29, according to the sustainability organization Global Footprint Network, humanity will have used up the Earth's resource budget for the entire year. This "Earth Overshoot Day" has moved forward by an astonishing two months in the past 20 years and in 2019 it will arrive earlier than ever.

Although humanity's increasing environmental impact manifests itself in many ways, climate change has the broadest and longest-lasting effects. Carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels account for an estimated 60 percent of our ecological footprint.

The G20 countries are, to different degrees, the main contributors to climate change, and collectively emit around 80 percent of all greenhouse gases. China, the United States, and the European Union head the CO2 emission rankings, with America being by far the biggest per capita emitter.

Under President Donald Trump, however, the U.S. has announced its withdrawal from the 2015 Paris climate agreement, whereby 197 countries have pledged to limit the increase in the global temperature to a maximum of 2 degrees C above pre-industrial levels.

At the recent G20 summit in Osaka, the Trump administration again distanced itself from the Paris accord, while claiming that energy-related CO2 emissions in the U.S. had fallen by 14 percent between 2005 and 2017.

But this drop largely reflected economic factors ― particularly access to abundant low-cost natural gas, which has displaced coal in the U.S. energy mix. The Trump administration, which is busy rolling back Obama-era climate policies, cannot take credit for these trends.

The climate crisis proves that social and natural dynamics are increasingly linked. Yet some leaders still seem intent on ignoring the empirical evidence for global warming.

In the U.S., Trump's climate policies reflect today's sharply polarized politics, where almost every issue is highly partisan. His rejection of the scientific consensus on climate change appeals to many Republican voters, only 34 percent of whom believe that human activity is the primary cause of global warming, compared to 89 percent of Democrats.

Moreover, the U.S. government's offensive against climate science has found support among other fossil-fuel producers. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Russia, for example, recently joined the U.S. in refusing to back a landmark report by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that highlighted the need for drastic cuts in CO2 emissions.

The IPCC report concluded that in order to limit global warming during this century to 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels ― an aim of the Paris agreement ― we must reduce net CO2 emissions by about half (relative to 2010 levels) by 2030, and we must reach net-zero emissions by mid-century. Current trends, however, are not promising: global energy-related CO2 emissions climbed to a record high in 2018.

But it's not all bad news. Fortunately, no country has joined the U.S. by announcing its intention to withdraw from the Paris agreement. And at the G20 summit, France, the United Kingdom, and others prevented Trump from keeping any reference to the accord out of the final communique.

France and the U.K. are among a growing number of countries that have adopted laws enshrining the objective of carbon neutrality (meaning net-zero emissions), in their case by 2050.

EU member states ― which in 2018 managed to buck the current global trend by reducing their combined energy-related CO2 emissions ― have discussed the possibility of making carbon neutrality by 2050 a shared objective. But last month they failed to agree on this target date because of opposition from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, and Poland.

This represents a setback for Europe ahead of the U.N. Climate Action Summit in New York in September, which will address the need for more ambitious national commitments under the Paris agreement. The EU must constantly demonstrate its capacity for leadership on climate change, and failing to make a strong statement at this summit would represent a missed opportunity.

At the same time, the world will not win the battle against climate change if too many people believe that economic growth and fairness will suffer as a result. As the "Yellow Vest" protest movement in France has shown, it is rather unrealistic to expect people who worry about the end of the month to worry just as much about the end of the world.

Because the energy transition will be costly and generate losers in the short run, governments must fine-tune policies and design a safety net to cushion the impact, as the Spanish government aims to do with its new transition plan for closing the country's coal mines.

This sort of adjustment ― which was embraced by European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen in her speech at the European Parliament ― is compatible with confronting the hard truth of the matter: In the medium and long term, climate inaction is by far the more costly alternative.

The earliest ever "Earth Overshoot Day" is a stark reminder of how much we demand from our planet, and of the unprecedented energy transition required to combat global warming. Encouragingly, the public debate on climate change ― despite some discordant voices ― has begun to recognize this reality.

Moreover, the increasing depth and visibility of the climate discussion, and the marked decrease in renewable energy prices, provide further grounds for optimism.

Tackling global warming will be an arduous task, and it might be easy to become discouraged. But if the world embraces an innovative, multilateral, and socially inclusive spirit, there is still time to bring about the change in direction urgently needed to preserve the planet's habitability.


Javier Solana, a former EU high representative for foreign and security policy, secretary-general of NATO, and foreign minister of Spain, is currently president of the ESADE Center for Global Economy and Geopolitics, distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Agenda Council on Europe. Copyright belongs to Project Syndicate (www.project-syndicate.org).


 
miguel
wooribank
LG
Top 10 Stories
1Guide to Chuseok celebrations across Korea Guide to Chuseok celebrations across Korea
2Chuseok exodus begins ahead of extended 6-day holiday Chuseok exodus begins ahead of extended 6-day holiday
3Korea sees record-low births in July Korea sees record-low births in July
4Hyundai E&C to build upmarket apartment complex in Seoul's Gwanak District Hyundai E&C to build upmarket apartment complex in Seoul's Gwanak District
5Political battle intensifies after court rejects Lee's arrest warrant Political battle intensifies after court rejects Lee's arrest warrant
6Korea on track to prove esports prowess at Asian Games Korea on track to prove esports prowess at Asian Games
7[INTERVIEW] Risk-averse culture is forcing daring creators to flee showbiz INTERVIEWRisk-averse culture is forcing daring creators to flee showbiz
8Lotte focuses on health care, mobility to spur growth Lotte focuses on health care, mobility to spur growth
9DMZ Open Int'l Music Festival to be held in Goyang in November DMZ Open Int'l Music Festival to be held in Goyang in November
10Two Koreas trade barbs over nuclear war Two Koreas trade barbs over nuclear war
Top 5 Entertainment News
1Trailblazing nonagenarian artist honored for redefining Korean fiber art Trailblazing nonagenarian artist honored for redefining Korean fiber art
2[INTERVIEW] 'Coexistence of different art hubs across Asia is necessary': Art Week Tokyo Director INTERVIEW'Coexistence of different art hubs across Asia is necessary': Art Week Tokyo Director
3[INTERVIEW] With '30 Days,' Kang Ha-neul finds new level of comfort in acting INTERVIEWWith '30 Days,' Kang Ha-neul finds new level of comfort in acting
4Rwandan artists bring diversity to Seoul's art scene Rwandan artists bring diversity to Seoul's art scene
5[INTERVIEW] ONEUS returns as 'mermaid prince' INTERVIEWONEUS returns as 'mermaid prince'
DARKROOM
  • Turkey-Syria earthquake

    Turkey-Syria earthquake

  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group