Francisco Ferreira, a professor at the Nova University Lisbon School of Science and Technology and president of ZERO – Association for the Sustainability of the Earth System, has already booked his ticket to Glasgow, Scotland, to attend the next Climate Summit, if it is held in in-person format. Despite the fact he believes that the goals defined in the Paris Agreement will be brought forward, or in other words, they will be made even more challenging at next November´s summit, he predicts that “they will still be far from what is required”. This will be the main downside of an event which is expected to register proposals for bringing forward the goals in relation to the neutrality of greenhouse gas emissions, not least due to the encouraging performance of the countries of the European Union and, more recently, the United States, since Joe Biden took over as president of the country regarded as one of the main greenhouse gas emitters in the world.
Climate injustice
The return of the United States to the Paris Agreement has brought hope with regard to what this country can do in a positive sense, not only in relation to its economy, but also due to its global influence. According to Francisco Ferreira, the presence of the USA is essential at a summit at which many developing countries will apply pressure due to the negative consequences of climate change on their land and their society, without being to blame. “What we have here is climate injustice”, he argues, adding that there is still plenty to be negotiated, in political terms, not least due to the fact the goals of the Paris Agreement are far from being achieved. “If we pool the promises made by every country in relation to their emissions, the average air temperature will increase not by just 1.5ºC, the goal specified in the agreement, but by 3ºC, that is, far more than necessary”, reveals.
“If we pool the promises made by every country in relation to their emissions, the average air temperature will increase not by just 1.5ºC but by 3ºC”
Energy transition is essential to carbon neutrality, however, due to the fact no solution comes without an impact, “what humanity needs to do, in the most integrated manner possible, is to evaluate and find the best solutions” in relation to this process, explains Francisco Ferreira. He adds that we also need to compare costs and benefits in order to replace the use of fossil fuels with sources of renewable energy as quickly as possible.
The climate emergency is still with us
We mustn´t forget that the Earth is still undergoing a climate emergency. “There is an increasing amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, the temperature continues to rise and the consequences of climate change are growing, such as extreme weather events, heatwaves, forest fires, rising sea levels and loss of biodiversity”, emphasises Francisco Ferreira, defending the urgent need for energy transition. He explains that our country is already using several sources of renewable energy, including hydro, wind, and solar power, which is still relatively insignificant, geothermal energy in the Azores, and biomass. Moreover, “we still have challenges ahead of us, such as hydrogen, an extremely important source of alternative energy. However, the most essential aspect of the entire energy transition process is sufficiency, in my opinion”, says Francisco Ferreira. He explains that this means ensuring people's well-being and quality of life and avoiding the wasteful use of energy to the greatest extent possible. “We need to make conscious choices in relation to the use and consumption of energy, thereby guaranteeing efficiency”, he argues. “This will ensure only the necessary resources are used” he adds.
A change in paradigm
This requires a change in the paradigm of consumption, in goals in relation to quality of life and well-being, all of which need to occur both on an individual and a regional, national and global scale. “We are already using credit cards to obtain the planet´s resources and to ensure the provision of our needs, at a time when the population is growing at an ever-increasing rate”, says Francisco Ferreira. “We now need politicians who realise that acting later will be far more expensive than doing it now, and that we need to implement policies where the paradigm of development is no longer based only on a logic of unlimited growth, which must cease to exist”, he adds. It won´t be easy to change people´s mentality, to get politicians talking about the benefits of negative growth and people to consume energy in a more rational and sustainable manner. Nevertheless, this is something that has to be done on a planet with limited resources that are already being exhausted.