In a recent speech, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres made an extraordinary suggestion to ban all forms of advertising by all fossil fuel producers in the world. This proposal came after reviewing the apparent failure of the world to limit the increase in the earth’s average temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
If global emissions do not peak and start to decline in this decade, the earth’s average temperature increase since the pre-industrial era will likely reach 1.5 degrees Celsius before 2030 and 2.1 degrees to 3.4 degrees later in this century. According to Professor Gallagher, “Heat waves and droughts will become more frequent, wildfires will spread further and fresh water will be harder to find in some regions.
In order to achieve net zero global emissions in 25 years, countries must embrace rapid, substantial and sustained reduction in emission. The next conference in 2024 will be hosted by Azerbaijan, where oil and gas production accounts for half of the country’s GDP and more than 90 percent of its export revenues in 2022.
Governments must learn to enact and implement climate policies in more effective ways. According to Gallagher, “Many countries remain at an aspirational stage with high level targets, plans and strategies in mind, but few concrete and specific policies on the books. And governments with specific policies often lack the capacity or will to enforce them – for example, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand and Vietnam.
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