Just weeks out from the COP26 meeting in Glasgow, Greta Thunberg slams governments for “shamelessly congratulating themselves” for insufficient pledges to cut emissions.
Young activists are slamming world leaders for decades of “empty words and promises.” At the Youth4Climate event in Milan last week, Greta Thunberg stole the show.
During a speech by the 18-year old activist, she mocks every CEO and investor flaunting an ESG PowerPoint. She also points the finger at US President Joe Biden and other sloganeering politicians for their lack of action in combating climate change.
Thunberg, highlighting the gap between words and action, hurls leaders’ words back at them.
Reuters reports Thunberg as stating,
“Build back better. Blah, blah blah. Green economy. Blah, blah, blah. Net zero by 2050. Blah, blah, blah,”
In her deadpan delivery. “This is all we hear from our so-called leaders. Words that sound great but so far have not led to action. Our hopes and ambitions drown in their empty promises.”
Thunberg has converted millions of her peers to single-issue campaigners as a result of her ongoing efforts.
News.com reports that Ugandan youth activist Vanessa Nakate backed up Thunberg’s exasperation at world leaders’ lack of urgency. She asks attendees at the Youth4Climate conference, “How long must children sleep hungry because their farms have been washed away because their crops have been dried up because of the extreme weather conditions?”
She continues, “It’s time for our leaders to stop talking and start acting, it’s time for the polluters to pay, it’s time to keep promises,”
Adding,
“No more empty promises, no more empty summits, no more empty conferences. It’s time to show us the money.”
Approximately 400 youth activists from almost 200 countries have joined forces in Milan to submit a joint declaration to the ministerial meeting. This will act as a lead-in to COP26 in November in Glasgow.
Limiting Global Warming
According to the IPCC, nuclear power has helped to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by around 74 gigatons over half a century.
Hydropower is the only cleaner source of energy. Global energy consumption will inevitably rise, especially as developing nations become more industrialised. According to the IPCC report, “time is running out to rapidly overhaul the global energy system”.
A new study from August’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that without nuclear power, the world’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius will be missed.
This astounding finding calls into question the opposition of nuclear power in the developed world. This includes G7 countries like Germany, Japan, and Italy.
Thunberg remains relatively quiet on the question of nuclear power; despite hailing from Sweden – which derives around 40% of its electricity from splitting atoms.
Previously, she’s described nuclear power as “extremely dangerous, expensive and time-consuming”. However, she is also open to IPCC’s suggestion that it could be part of the solution to climate change.
Nuclear Power’s Future Role
Calls are being made for non-state actors to become more environmentally transparent and accountable. In addition, for the fossil fuel industry to be phased out by 2030.
This means that Thunberg could have a unique opportunity to utilise her platform to encourage a global nuclear energy transition going forward.
Most regions with existing nuclear power programmes have plans to build or rebuild existing reactors. Approximately thirty countries are considering, planning or initiating nuclear power programmes worldwide.
In the UK, the government indicates that nuclear is a key part of reaching net zero. In December, Prime Minister Boris Johnson committed to supporting at least one large-scale nuclear project by 2025.
It’s true that the fallout of a nuclear mishap can be huge. Just think as far back as Chernobyl or Fukushima. However, the IPCC notes that the technology has made leaps and bounds in safety advancements since those facilities were commissioned. The UN body writes in August,
“Recent advancements in nuclear fuel design improve the safety and economic performance of existing reactors”.
NuScale Power’s advanced small modular reactor (SMR) is a prime example of this. Its passive safety cooling technology makes the reactor walk-away safe – without the need for an operator to take action to safely shut down the reactor.
The Paris Agreement
COP26 is crucial for the efficient implementation of the 2015 Paris Agreement. The landmark deal aims for a global warming cap of 1.5C, with a a global temperature rise of well below 2 degrees Celsius.
Six years on, countries have yet to agree on implementation. Considerations such as how to count carbon savings and how the battle against climate change will be paid for are amongst long-overdue concerns.
Countries currently suffering from devastating floods, droughts, and storms exacerbated by rising seas are also urging industrialised countries to follow through on a ten-year promise to pay $100 billion ($A138 billion) every year to help them recover and adapt.
News.com reports that COP26 President Alok Sharma told delegates that the summit is a chance for,
“developed countries to make good on their promise of money to support developing countries dealing with rising impact of climate change”.
Host Britain explains that it aims for the Glasgow summit to keep the temperature goal achievable. Specifically, by seeking an agreement to phase out coal power.
Last month, the UN stated that the last round of emission reduction plans has still put Earth on course for a devastating 2.7C warming.
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