(Newswire.net — June 21, 2019) — The Netherlands, along with almost every participating country, has a big chance of not reaching the Paris climate goals. The goal is to prevent the average temperature from rising by 2 degrees Celsius, compared to the year 1850, when humans as a whole were way less fossil energy reliant, and as such had very low greenhouse gas emissions. The plan for 2030 is to have 49 percent less greenhouse emissions. Unfortunately, the Netherlands will probably not reach these climate goals.
Dangers of not reaching the climate goals
Currently, global temperatures have risen by one degree, compared to 1850. Another rise of one degree will increase the risk of plant and animal extinction by a lot. A rise of 2 degrees will increase risks of flooding, coral reefs will also start to bleach at this temperature.
At 4/5 degrees, it’s a severe health risk for humans, animals, plants and as such, for the entire world. Coral reefs will have disappeared, crop production decreases and a loss of coastal areas is unavoidable.
What has the Netherlands done to try reaching these goals?
More than 600 different proposals have been made to help reach the 2030 climate goals of decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by 49 percent. Calculations have made it almost certain, however, that these proposals will not be enough for The Netherlands to reach the goals. The only way The Netherlands will be able to reach the climate goals is by having pretty much everything go perfectly. In practice, this is nearly impossible.
The Netherlands’ populace is outraged over how its government acted, as most of the costs of reaching the climate goals have been laid at the feet of the people with the lowest incomes and businesses. Meanwhile, the people with the highest incomes’ pay less in proportions. A clear message has been sent to the government by many of the organizations that have the environment in their best interest; half measures aren’t enough by a long shot.
This article was written in collaboration with Easyswitch.nl