Olson 1

KayleyOlson
FinalExam
PPS330
ProfessorBartling
WordCount:1745
1032016
Climatechangeisthemostcontroversialenvironmentalissuetheworldisfacing
now.Wefirstunderstoodclimatechangewasanissuebackin1972duringtheUN
ConferenceontheHumanEnvironmentinStockholm.Howeverbackthenwewere
worriedthatwewererunningoutofkeyminerals,wheninactualityitwashowour
ecosystemwasrunning,andthethreatGHGemissionscausedtoourenvironment.Sachs
outlinesthemainproblemsfacingGHGemissionsandhowitwilleventuallywarmour
Earthby2 CandalsoofferssolutionstoavoidthewarmingofourEarth.Sachsalso
goesintothebalanceofstillmaintainingaprosperousmarketfortheworldandlowering
ourGHGemissionsdespitetheneedforburningfossilfuelstomakemoreofthegoods
forthemarket.Sachsalsooutlineshowglobalcitiesmustallcontributetolowerour
GHGemissionsandstabilizetheEarthstemperature.Finally,theEmissionsReportof
2015discussesthefinitenumbersneededtoreachasustainabledevelopmentwhilealso
maintainingaglobalmarketfortheeconomiestogrow.
Sachslooksattheproblemofclimatechangeandcomestotheconclusionsthat
therearesevenmajorfactorsthatcontributetotheriseoftheearthstemperature.Helists
themasfollowed,GHGemissionsfollowincomelevel,thereislittleglobalmobilization
tofixtheproblem,climatechangeisagenerationalproblem,theeconomyisdirectly
linkedtoGHGemissions,climatechangeisaslowmovingprocess,andtheenergysector
isranbytheworldsmostpowerfulcompanies.(Sachs394296).Thisgrocerylistof

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problemsthatSachspresentscanbecompressedtosmallercomponents,thewillingness
totakeactioninclimatechangeandtherelianceoftheeconomy,andmoreimportant
fossilfuels,forallnations.
Ifwelookatthewillingnessastowhichcountriesarepreparedtopartakein
mitigationtosolveclimatechangeitinvolvesfromSachslistthelittleglobal
mobilizationtofixtheproblem,climatechangeasagenerationalproblemandthatthis
problemisaslowmovingprocess.Sachsidentifiesthatcountrieshavedifferentopinions
onclimatechange,andthisisallformedfromtheirspecificresourcestheyhaveavailable
tothem,theirusageofGHGs,andtheoverallstatisticsofthecountry,likepopulation,
GDPpercapita,geographicalsizeandsoonandsoforth.Sachsevensays,Allofthese
differencesgiverisetosharpdifferencesonopinionsandinterestsontheproperway
forward.(Sachs394).Inturn,itisaquestionofinequalitysinceeachcountryisdifferent
andfunctionsdifferently.Thisbringsittotheproblemofgettingglobalmobilization
becauseeverycountryisgoingtothinkdifferentlyonwhoshoulddowhatsincetheywill
bethinkingforthebestinterestoftheirowncountry.Goingoffofwhoshouldcontribute
whatthereisalsotheproblemofthewillingnesspeoplewanttodoanythingsince
climatechangeisgenerational.Climatechangeisgoingtoeffectpeoplewhoarenoteven
bornyetandthereisnowaytogaugeontheirideologiesandwhattheywantandthinkof
accordingtoSachs395.
Allthedifferentopinionsthatpeopleformleadstoaverycomplexanswerin
tryingtoattempttosolveclimatechange.Itdealswithoneveryimportantkeyfactorthat
everycountrydealswith,moneyandmoreimportantlythedependenceontheeconomy.

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Thedistributionofwealthamongtheworldisblatantlyunequal;peoplehavemore
moneythanothersaswellaspeoplehavelessthanothers.Furthermorethewealthin
differentcountriesisextremelyunequalbetweenthedevelopedcountriesandthe
developingcountries.TheproblemwiththisisthatasSachspointsout,highincome
countriestendtohavethelargestGHGemissionspercapita,whilepoorcountriesare
oftengreatvictimsofhumaninducesclimatechangewithoutthemselveshaving
contributedmuchtothecrisis.(Sachs394).However,withpeoplewhohavehighGHG
emissionsandarelativelyhigherincome,likeChina,theycontributemorethanjustGHG
emissionstheyarecontributingtotheeconomyasalargemanufacturer.AsSachspoints
out,Theentireworldeconomyhasgrownupasafossilfuelbasedeconomy,andyet
fossilfuelsareatthecoreoftheclimatechangecrisis.(Sachs395).Tocontributetothe
crisis,thebiggestcontributorstotheworldeconomyarelargeoilandfuelcompanies.So
withthedependenceoffossilfuelstorunourentireeconomy,howdowemoveaway
fromitandalsomaintaineconomicprosperity?
Sachslooksatthebasicsolutionthatisneeded,i.e.weneedtoreduceourCO2
emissionsdrastically.Sachslooksatwhatsneededtobedoneenvironmentallyand
economicallyandsays,emissionsperdollarofgrossworldproduct(GWP)would
needtodeclinebyafactorof6orevenmore!...Adeepdecarbonizationoftheworld
economyisnecessarytoremainwithinthe2Climit.(Sachs417).Fromthegoalthat
Sachsdiscusseshefurtheroutlinesthreemajorstepsthatmustbetakeninordertoreach
deepdecarbonization,firstistobeenergyefficient,thesecondittoreducetheemissions
ofCO2permegawatthoursofelectricity,andthreeistoundergoafuelshiftfromfossil

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fuelstogreenerenergy.MuchofwhatSachsdiscussespolicywiseistoimplementnewer
andgreenertechnologiesonthemarket,suchaseverydayappliancesorelectriccars.
Otherideasincludetheenergyshiftofusingwindturbines,geothermalenergy,biofuels,
solarpower,offshorewindpower,andevencarboncaptureandsequestration.Sachsis
tryingtodiscussthefactthatthealternativesareoutthereandmitigationispossiblefor
everyone.Butthesecondpartofsustainabledevelopment,adaption,requirescitiesand
governmentstoactivelyparticipateandfundintothesenewenergysourcesandmove
awayfromthedependenceofbiofuels.
SomecitieshavebegunthisprocessofbecominggreenerandloweringtheirGHG
emissions.Sachsevenoutlinesthemajorwayscitiesareslowlystartingtodothislike
NewYorkCity.Thisincludesurbanproductivity,wherethebasisisasuccessfuland
productiveinfrastructure,socialinclusion,whereeffectiveurbanplanningiscalledfor,
andenvironmentalsustainability,wherethereisaheavyneedformitigationand
adaption.Forlargecitiestheseareallanecessity,andhavebeenproventoworkwhen
lookingatNewYorkCity.ThePlaNYCprojecttakesintoaccountallcomponentsof
howGHGemissioncanbereducedsuchasenergy,transportation,solidwaste,
brownfieldsandsoon,canbeimprovedtomakeagreenerEarth.Throughthisproject
theyhavebeenslowingmovingtowardloweringtheirGHGmissionsandhavegeared
towardsagreenercity.Howeffectivelyacityplansandpreparesforthefutureis
decisiveindeterminingitsprospectsforsustainabledevelopment.(Sachs367).Forbig
citiesthatareultimatelythebiggestcontributortoGHGemissions,theyhavetolookat
changingthewaytheylivethroughinfrastructure,urbanplanningandcreatingamore

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sustainabledevelopmenttocontributetoloweringtheGHGemissionsandnotraisingthe
Earthstemperature.
WhileSachsisgoodatpresentingtheoreticalapproachestosolvingclimate
change,theEmissionsGapReportfromtheUnitedNationEnvironmentalProgram,
presentsthefinitenumbersbywhichcountriescanhelpachievelowerGHGemissions.
WithintheEmissionsGapReporttherearealsoIntendedNationallyDetermined
Contributions(INDCs)thataresubmittedbyeachcountrytodiscusswhatexactlytheir
planisformitigationandloweringtheirGHGemissions.TheINDCsandthepossibility
ofthembeingcarriedouttotheirpotentiallargelyeffectsthelongtermtrajectoriesof
climatechange.TheINDCsthatcomefromdifferentcountriesaroundtheworldall
comewithuncertaintyrangessincetheyarenotsetdealsofwhatacountrywillorwill
notdo.Asopposedtothescienceconsensusthatcantelltheexactamountthatacountry
needstoreachinordertonotcontributetothewarmingoftheEarth.TheINDCs,
howeverdoaccountfortheneedsforthecountryandwhattheycanrealisticallyattainas
opposedtowhatthescienceconsensusistellingusweneedtobeat.
TheEmissionsGapReportsaysthatinordertonotreacha2Cwarmingisto
settleforbeingata1.5Cwarmingandstabilizingfromthere.Inorderforthistooccur,
theEmissionsGapReportsaysthatfor2CtooccurCO2reductionsmustreachanet
zeroby20602075andforemissionstostopgrowingbytheyear2030andfora1.5C
goal,theremustbeamuchsteeperdeclineattheyear2020.Whilethenumberscanbe
attainable,thereisaneededpolicyimplementationinordertogetcommunitiesto
participateinGHGemissionsreduction.Someofwhatisoutlinedtoreachthesegoalsas

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saidintheEmissionsGapReportistoencourageemissionsreductionsattheregional
andcitylevelviaknowledgesharing,encouragecommunitiestobecomemoreclimate
resilient,makepoliciestoreduceemissionsincitiescommonamongstall,encourage
lowcarbonandclimateresilientprojects,encouragingreportingGHGemissionsreports
sopeoplewillreducemore,andattractinvestorstoparticipateinnewenergyprojects.
OverallfromtheEmissionsGapReporttheyareabletolookandseeattheactual
feasiblenumbersneededtoreducecarbonemissionstolimitusfromraisingtheEarths
temperature,whilealsolookingatwhateachcountryaroundtheworldcancontribute.
Thehardestpartforclimatechangeistogeteveryoneinonthemobilizationandalso
contributemoneytoitdespiteeconomicgapsaroundtheworld.Gatheredfromthe
EmissionsGapReportandfromwhatSachssaysinhisbook,inordertopromotethe
reductionofGHGemissionsthereneedstobeashiftfromthedependenceonfossilfuels
toagreenerenergy.Andfurthermorethereneedstobeamarketincentivetowantpeople
toshiftfromaneconomythatissolelybasedonfossilfuelstoonethatislessdependent,
andassaidintheEmissionsGapReportattractinvestorstoparticipateinnewenergy
projects.Mitigationcanbeattainedthroughglobalcontributionandawillingnessto
shifttheeconomyfromafossilfuelbasedonetoagreeneronesothatwecanliveina
worldwherewedonotgooverthe2Ctemperaturewhilealsoachievingeconomic
prosperityinaneconomythatpromotesgreenerenergy.