- 9/10 hottest years on record happened in the 21st century
- lockdowns reduced GHG emissions this year by ~8% but we're still adding to gases already in the atmosphere
- to keep warming <1.5C emissions need to reduce to zero by 2050: 7% decline per year https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-race-against-heat/

The 2015 Paris Agreement seeks to limit warming by 2C, if not 1.5C. But even if it is limited to 1.5C:
- 500m people will be exposed to water stress
- 36m people will have lower crop yields
- up to 4.5 billion people could be exposed to more frequent, intensified heat waves

Developing countries are expected to face 70-80% of the costs of climate change. If you're poor then your house is usually less resilient, have fewer social or financial safety nets, fewer resources for mitigation, are more at risk to economic shocks, & lose relatively more

Since 2000 people in poorer countries have died from natural disasters at rates x7 higher than those in wealthier nations. If you're a poor person in one if those countries you're out of luck- governments invest more into protecting wealthier areas to the detriment of the poor

People in poverty usually can't afford insurance either: health shocks already push 100 million people into poverty per year. This will be exacerbated - natural disasters which cause disease & crop failures hit the poor the hardest

By 2050 climate change could displace 140 million people from sub saharan Africa, Latin America, & South Asia. In 2017 alone 18.8m people were displaced by natural disasters - x2 more than those displaced by conflict. For reference, the Syrian refugee crisis has displaced ~7m

Being a refugee only increases your risk: unplanned or unserviced settlements are more vulnerable to flooding & landslides.

@WorldBank estimates that by 2030 120m more people will be pushed into poverty by climate change

Climate change has already worsened global inequality: the GDP gap between the richest and poorest nations is 25% greater compared to no climate change occurring. Meanwhile richer nations benefit from exploiting fossil fuels whilst poorer nations deal with more effects

Which underscores how climate change is an inequality issue:
- the poorest half of the global population (3.5bn) produce 10% of carbon emissions
- the richest 10% are responsible for 50%
- a person in the richest 1% uses x175 more carbon than a person in the poorest 10%

Fossil fuel companies & their products = 91% of industrial GHG globally, & 70% of all manmade emissions. Just 100 companies are responsible for 71% of GHG emissions

Reminder: climate change is a waste management problem. Since the @IPCC was established in 1988 fossil fuel companies have produced the same amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted in the prior 237 years since the industrial revolution began

Governments are complicit: every climate summit speeches of intent are made but states still subsidise the fossil fuel industry by $5.2 trillion (6.3% of global GDP). The essentials of climate change have been known since the 70s but states still prioritise industry over climate

These decisions are often framed as 'economically sensible' but at 2C the socioeconomic losses will = 13% of global GDP & $69 trillion in damages. Investing in a fossil fuel-driven economy isn't rational - it's economic suicide. This cost has been known since the 70s too.

1.2 billion jobs (40% of global employment) rely on a sustainable environment. Even if we keep to 1.5C the equivalent of 72 million full-time jobs will be lost due to heat stress alone. Pollution & environmental degradation will impact worker productivity & health on top of this.

@WorldBank has stated there's no reason a low carbon path would limit economic growth: less emissions will avoid trillions worth of damages; renewable energy can create new jobs; better energy efficiency increases savings; a sustainable economy would reduce healthcare costs

Such economic restructuring requires a huge amount of investment: commitments to raise $100 billion by 2020 is a fraction needed to avoid 2C. Poorer states need up to $300bn per year by 2025/30 to adapt. This will increase to $500bn by 2050.

We need to do a lot more. Wealthier nations have the moral obligation and the resources to prevent the worst-case scenarios. But climate change is largely a top-down issue - governments need to be pressured in order to enact effective policy & grasp the scale of change needed

The above info comes from thr below @UN report - the rich emit more greenhouse gases per capita & have a greater capacity to adapt. The poor produce the least GHG yet are the most vulnerable & have the lowest adaptive capacity:
https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=24735&LangID=E