The world is facing a climate crisis tipping point now. It’s at a crucial moment when any seemingly small environmental crises will become significant enough for them to cause irreversible damage to the world and the future.
Fortunately, there is still time to act. But no one knows for sure how much time is left. What’s certain is that every individual needs to do more significant actions and changes in their lifestyles. The world must join together to drastically reduce carbon pollution and transform the society into one that runs on clean and renewable energy.
This is the reason why climate laws are needed. Climate laws are like security doors that protect the world from any future devastating effects of climate change, hoping it will be effective enough to reverse the crisis.
What Is The Climate Law?
A climate law requires every state from every country to have a roadmap to cut their carbon emissions in half by 2030 to reach climate neutrality no later than 2050. Each state and country need to lessen fossil fuel usage and dependency until clean and renewable energy can sustain the economy.
Most climate experts and scientists are hopeful that the worst impacts of climate change are still avoidable and reversible. Unfortunately, many lawmakers are not taking the crisis seriously and refuse to take any action. Some of them are even climate crisis deniers despite the new records set for Earth’s hottest temperature every year. Not only that, but there are also heatwaves, storms, droughts, wildfires, and floods that show that climate change and is causing an unprecedented catastrophe.
Because of these non-actions by state lawmakers, the most vulnerable people are suffering, and many lives are displaced. You’ve probably seen all kinds of footage going around on every social media and news program that has been going around more often in recent times. These are not propaganda; the climate crisis is real, and it will only start to get worse until individual and community actions are combined to halt its progress.
How Does The Climate Law Look Like In The World?
One hundred ninety-five states have signed up to the Paris Agreement, which is a pact that aims to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to curb the effects of climate change by limiting the increasing global temperature. The top ten countries leading the fight against climate change are Denmark, The U.K., Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Malta, France, and Hungary.
On the other hand, The U.S. was the only country that has withdrawn from the Paris Agreement after former president Donald Trump, a notorious climate crisis denier, promised that they will. They did this even if the U.S. is known to have the worst level of carbon emissions. The country officially left the agreement on November 4, 2020, but formally joined again on February 19, 2021.
How Does The Climate Law Look Like In The U.S.?
The U.S. has eight federal laws and six policies that are related to the climate crisis. Because of these laws and policies, hundreds of lawsuits against big companies have been filed and are in process; 54 among them are because of the Clean Air Act.
While the progress of every state moving to enact the climate law is moving at a snail’s pace, there are already some which are ahead of the rest of the country. States like Connecticut and Massachusetts have already passed their climate laws in 2008, which is called Global Warming Solutions Acts. They are also working on a plan and roadmap on how to achieve the 2050 zero-emissions goal. Another state that has passed its climate law in 2019 is Maine. Currently, their lawmakers are collecting recommendations from climate experts to help them develop their roadmap to cut their emissions.
Other states in the New England region of the U.S. are also coming up with climate emergency solutions. Vermont is considering passing its own Global Warming Solutions Act. Rhode Island has already introduced their climate law, and are currently planning the steps they need to take.
If the predictions of climate experts are correct, the world will only have a few years left until it finally reaches the climate crisis’ tipping point. So, suppose you are currently in a state or a country that isn’t doing many actions to slash its carbon emissions. In that case, you can use your voice by contacting your state’s representative, signing petitions, protesting, building a community, and more to be able to take drastic steps to save the future. Individual actions may not be enough to solve a global crisis, but they could still go a long way if you use them wisely.