Sin Chew Daily

Global emissions of carbon dioxide continue to climb, as forests are logged indiscriminately causing severe floods, warming, melting of icebergs and rising sea levels, threatening coastal cities worldwide and tiny island nations.

Human beings are facing unprecedented threats of their survival, and we are not talking about sci-fi movies. Perhaps this might not happen tomorrow or in a couple of years, but the day will eventually come if we do not learn to live peacefully with our one and only planet.

December 12, 2015, the UN Climate Change Conference adopted the Paris Agreement, and April 22 the following year was made the "World Earth Day".

The 29 Articles of the Paris Agreement which was ratified by 171 UN member states, placed the emphasis on the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions to stop global warming.

To cut down carbon dioxide emissions, it is essential to first mitigate the environmental pollution caused by industrialization, including controlling oil exploration, coal mining, as well as the expansion of livestock and logging activities. Besides, electric vehicles should also take the place of vehicles run on fossil fuels.

All these are absolutely possible if governments are willing to extend their full cooperation. Of course, there is a price to be paid, namely higher production cost and reduced capacities.

We all know that humans have to live peacefully with the Nature, but US president Donald Trump obstinately withdrew from Paris Agreement less than half a year after he took office.

It is not hard to understand why. Trump's supporters are mostly living in the central region which is the hub of America's manufacturing, mining and livestock industries. By complying with the Paris Agreement, the vested interests of local businesses will be at stake, and this will also involve US$3 trillion in annual revenue shortfall and a loss of 6.5 million job opportunities.

When the Global Carbon Budget 2018 was drafted jointly by some 80 scientists from across the world in December 2018, highlighting the fact carbon emissions could cause changes in the world's climate, Trump said he had read the report, but insisted that carbon dioxide emissions had nothing to do with global warming.

Several days ago, on the fifth anniversary of the ratification of Paris Agreement, UN secretary-general António Guterres urged world leaders to declare a state of climate emergency until the world has reached net zero CO₂ emissions.

US president-elect Joe Biden asserted firmly that his country would return to Paris Agreement on his first day of office in hope of making the US carbon neutral by 2050.

Meanwhile, Chinese president Xi Jinping also announced to step up effort to slash carbon emissions with the goal of cutting the country's carbon emission in 2030 by 65% from the 2005 levels while further expanding wind and solar power capacities..

If we do not do anything to stop the destruction of our delicate environment, there will be an "irreversible backlash" from Mother Nature once the tolerance of our planet Earth has been stretched beyond the limit.

China and the United States are the world's two biggest emitters. Of the 37.5 billion tons of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere from industrial activities and the use of petrochemical fuels worldwide in 2018, China contributed 10.3 tons or 27.5% of total, followed by the US at 5.4 billion tons or 14.4% of total. Together, these two countries contributed 42% of the world's carbon dioxide emissions.

The total emissions of greenhouse gases in 2019, including those from land use or forest land development, reached a high of 59.1 billion tons, 6.9% higher than the 55.3 billion tons released a year earlier.

Thanks to the coronavirus, global carbon emissions are expected to be reduced by 7%. However, the reduction in China is only an insignificant 1.7%.

The situation has not improved after Paris Agreement went into effect, and 2020 marks the third hottest year in history. The few years from 2015 to 2020 have been the hottest since the start of record in 1850.

UN secretary-general António Guterres warned that we are very close to a climate catastrophe.

Concerted effort by nations to cut carbon emissions is our only bet for the survival of ourselves and our children.