Three facts about climate change I have learned in 2021
The year is ending and recalling what happened there is much that makes me happy. Above all, the fact you are reading this blog.
Credits to Tanya Foubert
It all started with a question from a very inspiring leader of mine. “Why don’t you open a blog on climate change?” she asked a few months ago. Then a colleague came right away with the same question. And two weeks later a friend. They didn’t know each other yet they were asking me the same.
Maybe they could no longer bear to hear me talking about CO2 emissions? Or did they think I had something interesting to share with a wider community? You decide. What matters is that I followed their suggestion – thank God! – and launched Caldo in June.
I had a clear idea in mind: to make the science of climate change and sustainable development more accessible. So that my mum and dad could understand what I was talking about – still work in progress!
So, here we are six months later, with 30 articles published and more than 130 friends who signed up to receive Caldo’s latest pieces directly in their mailbox. More people spontaneously read them, and some are reaching out for critiques, advice, or collaborations.
So, it was worth the time and energy invested. And by reading hundreds of papers to come up with the best content for you once per week, I was learning a lot. There are three facts about climate change that I have discovered in 2021:
1. Adaptation is not second to mitigation
When talking about climate action, there is naturally a tendency to focus primarily on climate change mitigation. When faced with a potential disaster, humans respond by thinking about solutions to prevent it from happening. But there are some climate-related events that we cannot avoid. We can only adapt.
2. Biodiversity is key
The destruction of forests and other ecosystems undermines nature’s ability to regulate greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and protect against extreme weather impacts. So why has biodiversity loss been eclipsed on the global agenda? Because people are increasingly feeling climate change in their own lives - whether it's wildfires or hurricanes, but not biodiversity loss.
3. Carbon consumption (not production) is the culprit
To address climate change, we need to reduce our carbon consumption. If we want to do that unilaterally – as it is today - we need to ensure that imports of carbon-intensive products are treated on the same basis as domestic production. That is a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. It is not sufficient but very close to necessary.
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And if your 2021 energy tank is not dry yet, I suggest looking at Caldo’s three top-read articles. As winter holidays are approaching and so copious amounts of family time, they can help you avoid those usual awkward conversations: politics, dating, finance.
Five tips to talk effectively about climate change – a rescue-piece when chatting with the cousin who always ends up going off on some tangent about politics
Six key outcomes of COP26 – a powerful way to trigger a conversation but, please, not with that cousin
Saving our planet: one bite at a time! – a spicy topic, especially if your Christmas menu includes baked veal or turkey with staffing
And this is, my friends, the conclusion of an exciting year for me. You all have made it possible by reading and commenting along the way. Thank you so much. A new dream, an exciting job, and a southern city await me in 2022. Updates will follow soon – stay tuned!
