Climate change
This topic deals with its causes, symptoms and consequences for nature and people
Local climate protection measures
„It is inconceivable that humanity with all its noble achievements, with its hopes and good will, will be indifferent to the outcry of the climate community... Most important, however, is that we are unconditionally ready to change our behaviour and are willing to live modestly and realistically - for the sake of a future that is not ours, but which we have only borrowed from our future generations.“ Boodhoo, Yadowsun; Official responsible for Mauritius, World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
Through our lifestyle and our habits we consume a lot of energy and thereby contribute to global warming. It is therefore necessary that we personally deal with climate change, give some thought to ways of saving energy and ultimately implement them. When people, local communities and cities become engaged, they do it in their immediate surroundings.
Eduardo Gold also became involved with the climate in a very special way. He won a competition in 2009, organized by the World Bank, with his idea entitled "100 Ideas to Save the Planet". Watch this video to get an insight into the variety of ways of doing this:
What climate protection measures do you know? Do you see them as reasonable and effective? Think primarily about the following areas: housing, mobility, nutrition ...
- Check to see whether the municipality or city in which you live is an air alliance member.
- Get in touch with your community or the relevant municipal department and ask which climate protection measures are in force at a local level.
Experts agree that global greenhouse gas emissions have to decrease by at least 50% by 2050 in order not to exceed the international climate policy 2-degree target. The average global temperature should therefore rise no more than 2 ° C above pre-industrial levels, but it has already been increased by about 0.8 degrees Celsius. If this target is missed, the so-called tipping points of climate change would drive itself forward. Scientists have calculated that each person is permitted to emit 6.8 kg of CO2 per day, to prevent climate change from becoming self-reinforcing. In the video, "A good day has 100 points – explained simply" these 6.8 kg are converted into 100 points and an answer to the question - what kind of lifestyle can our climate tolerate? – is given.
Watch this video:
Finally, another important fact is raised at this point and directed as criticism at the 2 degree goal. Frank Drieschner, editor of the German newspaper “Die Zeit”, summarizes the great self-deception in relation to the 2 degree goal in one of his articles. Even if the entire industrialised world immediately underwent a dramatic ecological reorganization – that is, we all ate vegan, lived in unheated homes, drove green cars and flew using bio-kerosene – and developing, as well as growing countries only continued their rapid growth until the middle of the 2020s in order to join in with the ecological revolution, the earth would warm up by around 4 degrees. The fact is that the greenhouse gas emissions saved by the industrialised countries in the last 20 years are only equivalent to those produced by the developing and growing countries in one year. As the rapid growth in China and India was not taken into consideration in the latest report by the IPCC, the calculations of the 2 degree goal have therefore already been exceeded. Despite this, science stands by this target and climate politics works towards it undeterred.
„But perhaps in reality the 2 degree target serves a different purpose. It is questionable whether mankind is capable of reacting in a unified way to the threat of climate change. If this is not the case, if we are destined to deal with the heating up of our planet and therefore condemn future generations to the same – this does not mean that we have to acknowledge the fact. People have always invented stories to make reality bearable and to make their own actions appear nobler than they are. The 2 degree target is one such story.“