Climate emergency: April 2024 is 11th consecutive month of record-breaking heat
Vice President for International Strategies at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions Kaveh Guilanpour speaks to CGTN Europe about the science behind rising temperatures and the key importance of global cooperation to meet the necessary climate targets.
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00:00 Let's talk to Carvey Guy Lempel, Vice President for International Strategies at the Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions.
00:07 Carvey, great to have you on the show.
00:09 So every month we witness temperature records breaking and realistically, how much time does the global community have to avert the climate catastrophe?
00:20 Well, thank you for inviting me. The latest reports are clearly concerning.
00:26 At the same time, they're nothing new. Over recent years, we've seen temperature records being broken on a regular basis and also increasingly severe climate impacts.
00:36 Your piece there just referred to the terrible flooding in Brazil, which will host the COP in 2025.
00:44 The models and the science have predicted all of this, and I think on the positive side, while this is concerning, as a matter of physics, it's still possible to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and stay within the 1.5 degree limit.
00:57 We have the solutions. We know what to do. We know from COP28 that we need to triple renewable energy by 2030 and to transition away from fossil fuels.
01:06 It's really a matter of political will as to whether countries want to do this or not.
01:12 As I said, it's a matter of political will. And earlier this week, envoys of the two key climate players, also the largest emitters in the world, the United States and China, set together for a climate action meeting in Washington, as we heard just now.
01:26 So how significant is this cooperation for the global goal?
01:31 Well, past experience shows that major breakthroughs on climate change are only possible when the U.S. and China, the world's two largest emitters of greenhouse gases, are aligned in their thinking.
01:42 And the readout from that recent meeting that you referred to is really encouraging for two reasons.
01:48 One, it's a great opportunity to establish that personal relationship between the new climate envoys.
01:54 In previous years, the relationship between Secretary Kerry and Chez Chinois was really vital in terms of major breakthroughs, such as the agreement of the Paris Agreement in 2015.
02:06 So that personal relationship will be very important going forward, and it's great that they met in person.
02:12 The substance of that meeting and what was discussed was really encouraging.
02:16 They discussed things like taking forward the notion of tripling renewable energy and moving away from fossil fuels.
02:22 They emphasized that new climate targets have to be submitted in early 2025 that are consistent with limiting temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
02:32 And importantly, they also emphasized ongoing cooperation on reducing methane emissions, which is really a low-hanging fruit, where the technology and the policies needed to reduce emissions are known.
02:44 But it's a very significant greenhouse gas.
02:47 So in all those areas, it's really encouraging that the two countries are cooperating.
02:52 And we know it is not only about talk the talk, but to walk the walk.
02:56 So what practical steps may we see being taken on climate policy and implementation fronts internationally in the months to come?
03:05 Well, 2024 is an important year for climate policy in three main areas.
03:09 First of all, as I said, new climate targets are required in the first quarter of 2025.
03:15 So the rest of 2024 will be really vital for countries to prepare those new climate targets and the policies to implement them.
03:23 And cooperation between countries such as U.S. and China on things like taking forward the tripling of renewable energy will be really critical to that.
03:32 Secondly, 2024 will require for the first time that all countries are going to have to come forward with reports to show how they're meeting their current targets under the Paris Agreement.
03:45 So that these biennial transparency reports are due by the end of the year.
03:49 And again, this was an area of cooperation highlighted in the recent meeting in Washington between the two countries.
03:55 And then finally, the main deliverable for COP29 in Azerbaijan will be on climate finance.
04:02 It's expected that a new goal on climate finance will be agreed.
04:06 And something like six trillion U.S. dollars will be needed by 2030 for developing countries to implement their existing climate commitments, yet alone the new ones.
04:17 So the politics on that will be very difficult, but it's really important and a good sign that the U.S. and China are speaking.
04:24 Thank you very much. That is Kaveh Ghilampul, vice president for international strategies at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.
04:32 Thank you very much for your insight.
04:34 Thank you.