Home » News » Ten Solutions for Carbon Neutrality and Climate Stability

Ten Solutions for Carbon Neutrality and Climate Stability

/

On the heels of the fifth anniversary of Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical Laudato Si, a new book born from a series of works that lead to the encyclical proposes best available climate solutions from around the world.

Health of People, Health of Planet and Our Responsibility- Climate Change, Air Pollution and Health, edited by Professors Al-Delaimy and V. Ramanathan from the University of California, San Diego, and Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, Bishop-Chancellor of the Vatican’s  Pontifical Academy of Sciences, builds on the Pontifical Academy of Sciences November 2017 workshop Health of People, Health of Planet and Our Responsibility: Climate Change, Air Pollution and Health and the workshop’s declaration “Our Planet, Our Health, Our Responsibility.

The 2017 workshop formed part a series on the state of nature and society and the moral imperative to protect both that led to Pope Francis’ 2015 environmental encyclical, where the Pope called for society to prioritize scientific findings on the damaging effects of fossil fuel use and soil degradation caused mainly by agriculture.

Also part of this week’s effort to celebrate the encyclical’s anniversary, 42 faith organizations from 14 countries announced they were divesting from fossil fuels, including several Catholic dioceses and religious orders, as well as some individual Methodist, Baptist and Quaker churches.

The new book includes a policy pathway to limit global temperatures to the Paris Agreement’s target of well under 2°C, aiming for the safer 1.5°C. The chapter, Well Under 2 Degrees Celsius: Ten Solutions for Carbon Neutrality and Climate Stability, proposes three cooling strategies critical to limit rising temperatures: decarbonize the global energy system by mid-century; drastically reduce emissions of short-lived super climate pollutants (HFCs, methane, and black carbon) starting now; and learning how to extract CO2 from the atmosphere at scale.

The chapter was written by UCSD Professor V. Ramanathan, Nobel Laureate Mario Molina, President of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development Durwood Zaelke, and Nathan Borgford-Parnell from the Climate & Clean Air Coalition in Paris. It is based on the 2017 Well Under 2 Degrees Celsius: Fast Action Policies to Protect People and the Planet from Extreme Climate Change report authored by 33 scientists and policy experts and co-chaired by Ramanathan, Molina, and Zaelke (see IGSD press release).

See UC San Diego Press Release, New Open-Access Book Casts Climate Change as a Public Health Crisis

***

The chapter, Well Under 2 Degrees Celsius: Ten Solutions for Carbon Neutrality and Climate Stability, is here.

The 2017 Well Under 2 Degrees Celsius: Fast Action Policies to Protect People and the Planet from Extreme Climate Change is here.

More information on the preceding Vatican workshop Health of People, Health of Planet and Our Responsibility: Climate Change, Air Pollution and Health (2-4 November 2017) is here.