Climate change: what if we talked about solutions?

Climate change is on everyone's lips and at the tip of every finger typing on their keyboard. With the publication of the alarming IPCC report, climate change is being talked about as a threat, but in reality, its consequences are already present, and some have even passed. Yet there are effective and sustainable solutions.

[accordion clicktoclose= »true »]
[accordion-item title= »Climate change: present and already very real consequences (click to expand) »]
300,000 deaths per year. The World Humanitarian Forum, chaired by former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, estimates that an average of 300,000 people die directly from climate change.[note]Jean Etienne – Futura Sciences – Access the article »[/note].

325 000,000 people affected by declining agricultural yields caused by climate change. In practice, we are talking about floods and droughts, unusual storms and cyclones. The conditions for the latter are favored by the rise in the surface temperature of the oceans[note]France Science – Access the article »[/note].

83,500,000 climate refugees between 2011 and 2014.

“The inhabitants of the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific have already requested asylum in the United States. And the Internally Displacement Monitoring Centre counted some 83.5 million climate refugees between 2011 and 2014, while the UN predicts that there will be 250 million by 2050[note]Nathalie Mayer, Futura Sciences – Access the article »[/note]. »

13% of the ice pack disappears each year.

"The ice pack is reduced to its minimum in September and it should be noted that in summer, this minimum is already, in general, 40% lower in recent years compared to the surface area observed at the beginning of the 1980s, decreasing by approximately 13% per decade[note]Nathalie Mayer – Futura-Sciences – Access the article »[/note]. »

[/accordion-item]
[accordion-item title= »In France: beyond the climate, all our ecosystems are threatened (click to expand) »]
Vincent Devictor and Laurent Gaudet examined 12,971 scientific articles relating to biodiversity. The observation "in France, only 0.02% of the territory is untouched by humans. And that includes the summits of the mountains. ».

They list for example:

• 400,000,000 birds that have disappeared in Europe in the last 30 years
• 80% of the flying insect population eliminated in the last 30 years

For them, there is no doubt that "In ten years, here, we will have the climate of Morocco"[note]Vincent Devictor, researcher at the CNRS – Biodicee Group – Institute of Evolutionary Sciences of the University of Montpellier 2 – Go to the page[/note].
[/accordion-item]
[/accordion]

Fighting against climate change in Daily life

The major cause of climate change is excessive greenhouse gas emissions, which explains why we commonly hear the overly restrictive term "global warming." There are simple actions that we can all take on a daily basis that would reduce our impact on a large scale.

Adopt more responsible modes of transport

For example, favor soft transport such as walking, cycling, and public transport rather than the car for short journeys. Prefer the train, bus, or carpooling rather than the plane or car for long journeys. According to census data conducted by INSEE, 58% of French people living less than a kilometer from their home travel there by car[note]See INSEE documentation on mobility flows – Access the documentation »[/note].

In terms of global warming, the transport problem lies in the emission of greenhouse gases. But this is intrinsically linked to the choice of fuels, which is exclusively limited to petroleum derivatives. In addition to being extremely polluting, these fuels contribute to the depletion of a fossil resource.

Electricity, an opportunity to seize intelligently

Opting for an electric mode of transport is already a first step with considerable effects.

EDIT: As one of our valued readers pointed out, it is useful to clarify our point further in order to broaden the horizon of this alternative. Indeed, he pointed out that H2 (hydrogen) vehicles are also powered by electric motors (H2+O2 mixture in a fuel cell). It would therefore be more correct to specify that there are electric vehicles with a battery but also electric vehicles with an H2 tank and a heat pump!

But it is not a magic formula. If the question of emissions (from the vehicle) is eliminated, there remain some black spots. Indeed, in the case of France, the majority of electricity is still produced by nuclear power, which takes us from one threat to another, but also from one extremely polluting energy source to another. Nevertheless, the bulk of renewable energy is made up of electricity.

Unlike nuclear power, renewable energy is produced in a much more decentralized manner in France. This has the effect of bringing production and consumption points closer together, allowing residents to participate in the production process, and also creating more jobs in more areas. It's a truly short energy supply chain to which Enerfip found it essential to add a short savings supply chain thanks to crowdfunding.

Also read: Biofuels: solutions for the future?

Choosing a more responsible diet

Consuming less meat (especially beef) also has effects strongly positive:

• On the one hand, livestock farming requires quantities of water and consumables that could instead be allocated to populations suffering from malnutrition;
• On the other hand, on a large scale, this will significantly reduce livestock farming and therefore the massive methane emissions it generates [note]US Department of Agriculture – Le Monde – Access the article »[/note].

After the unfounded argument of protein deficiencies, the argument of employment is often put forward. But if we're honest, we can easily conclude that buying less meat by choosing a quality local producer (labeled or certified organic) is beneficial to everyone: the environment, employment, health, and animal welfare.

In an ecological assessment approach, the pollution caused by livestock farming can, to a certain extent, be offset thanks to solutions offered by renewable energies. Livestock farmers can set up a methanization system to use residual materials. It's a saving for them on both ends, both in terms of energy expenditure and the loss of unexploited materials.

Towards the Transition

Rob Hopkins is the essential author on the energy transition because he has contributed greatly to the democratization of a transition model supported by citizens through his Manual and his experience in the town of Totnes[note]Manuel de la Transition published by Ecosociété – Access the book »[/note]. He demonstrates the link between climate change and oil dependence and proposes a more resilient model of society.

Resilient means that if oil disappeared, we would have a model of society that would be independent enough to be able to survive without a major crisis. Which is not the case today, quite the contrary. In this resilience approach, using short supply chains and not putting all our eggs in one basket is the smartest attitude we can adopt, and it is the one that has pushed us to choose the savings and renewable energy sector.