1. Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions
From a scientific perspective, solving the climate crisis is simple — countries just have to stop releasing greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. But for all sorts of political and economic reasons, countries have failed to take the scientific consensus seriously.
Hundreds of countries have pledged to reach “net zero emissions” by the middle of the century but most of their plans are sketchy at best and, in their current form, put the world on track to warming more than 2.7 degrees by the end of the century, according to the Climate Action Tracker.
Under the Paris climate agreement, countries map out emissions reductions through a process called nationally determined contributions (NDCs). In 2022, countries must improve their NDCs to clearly show how they will transform their economies in alignment with the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal.
The biggest improvements need to come from high-emitting countries like the US, Australia, Russia, Brazil, and China.
2. Mobilize Climate Finance
The climate crisis is a global injustice. The countries least responsible for global warming and biodiversity loss are facing the harshest consequences. Because of this imbalance, high-income countries promised in 2009 to provide $100 billion in annual climate finance by 2020 to help low-income countries adapt to climate change.
So far, countries have failed to realize this commitment. Not only that, the true cost of adapting to climate change is far greater than $100 billion annually, so even reaching this amount will be insufficient.
In 2022, high-income countries must fulfill the original climate finance pledge and then go beyond it to ensure that all countries can adequately adapt to climate change and transition their economies. This funding should also come in the form of grants rather than loans to prevent low-income countries from being further burdened with debt.