The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been clear: we only have 3 years to avoid catastrophic climate change. Yet, a large majority of political, economic and financial decision-makers are burying their heads in the sand and implementing their business-as-usual strategies. The impacts will be...unspeakable.
In France, despite the IPCC’s warning, environmental and climate affairs are once again in the backseat. They will not be at the center or even in the margins of the political debate ahead of the second round of the presidential elections. It’s already quite clear that climate action will be postponed by another five years. Five long years while the IPCC tells us that we only have three left.
The last part of the 6th IPCC report indicates that we will, at the current rate, have consumed all of our available carbon budget to limit global warming to 1.5°C before 2030. By 2100, temperatures will rise by 2.8 to 3.2°C. So it's now or never.
Action must come from politicians but also from financial institutions. Most global players are now committed to aligning their activities with international climate objectives. And the good news is that action will cost a lot less than inaction.
The IPCC confirms previous warnings by scientists and the International Energy Agency. If we need to decarbonize our economy in depth and free ourselves from our reliance on fossil fuels, we must stop developing new fossil fuel infrastructures that are incompatible with the remaining carbon budget.
On the contrary, investments must increase three to six-fold to transform our electricity mix, our transport systems and harness the energy efficiency potential. Fortunately, the investments required to boost the solutions agenda are much smaller than those currently fueling climate chaos.
However, the challenge is huge: banks are currently headed in the wrong direction. Banks have funneled USD 185 billion of financing to the 100 fossil fuel developers since the Paris Agreement was adopted. They support companies such as Shell, BP, and TotalEnergies, the French oil and gas major currently under fire from local communities impacted by the EACOP and Tilenga projects in East Africa.
Without delay, banks, insurers and investors must react. The upcoming General Assemblies are an important moment to make commitments against fossil fuel expansion and vote against the false climate plans of companies such as TotalEnergies or ENGIE who will be tabling Say On Climate resolutions.
