2022 was a year full of extreme ups and downs. It was the year where we could finally ease up a bit our tenses because of the declining coronavirus trends, but it was also the year of energy and monetary crisis all over the globe.
And if we are talking about the environment and global climate, which side was 2022 on? Was it a bad year for our environment and climate, or was it a year of improvement we have been longing for years before?
Apparently, according to researchers, it was a particularly pleasing year. A lot of actions were taken which brought positive results to the environment, and as a result a lot of improvements were made all over the world.
Want to learn more about the good things that happened in 2022? Here, in this article we are going to talk about 4 of it.
The 2022 HERO
The first thing that we need to mention in this article is a new initiative called HERO. The initiative aims to provide basic income to climate activists, so that they can survive the economic crash and keep on doing the good things they do.
“What gave me hope for climate action in 2022 is a new initiative called HERO, which aims to provide a basic income for 10,000 climate activists in the next five years,” said climate psychologist Jessica Kleczka.
“HERO is a subscription-based platform where people can support activist groups around the world working on pressing policy issues, and be part of their journey,” she continued. With this platform, anyone can freely focus on what they are concerned on more while supporting the good will from afar.
This is a serious support for our fight against climate change because it is an effective strategy. “Climate activism is the most effective way of accelerating policy change, and compensating campaigners for the work will be an absolute game changer,” Kleczka explained.
It is so effective that even buying carbon offsets is just a speck of dust compared to this strategy. “The Stanford Social Innovation review found that funding climate movements can be 100 times more cost-effective in reducing CO2 emissions compared to buying carbon offsets,” she said.
Fresh Hope for Decarbonization in 2022
As an expert in energy and climate data analysis, Elisabeth Cremona said that 2022 was a year that brought fresh hope to us in term of decarbonization. Playing a key role in turning global coal consumption to clean electricity, Cremona said that 2022 was even a turning point.
“This year was a key turning point in the way governments look at decarbonization – no longer only as a climate goal, but an economic and security priority. This is reflected in the increased ambition we saw from many EU countries in response to the energy crisis,” Cremona said.
Russia-Ukraine conflict apparently played part in this game. More countries realized the importance of going with renewable solutions to fossil fuel because of energy crisis caused by the conflict, which became a proper slap in the face for many countries relying on gas from Russia.
“Our research shows this translates into almost an additional 10 per cent renewable power by 2030, and positive impacts from this accelerated action are already being felt,” the energy and climate data analyst continued.
Another thing that sparked her joy is commitment from G7 Climate Club. “We also saw the G7 economies commit to achieving a clean power system by 2035, in recognition of this as a critical milestone for putting the world on track for 1.5C.”
United States’ Pledge
This one might seem average, because only one country is taking the pledge, but looking at the country taking the pledge it can be a big hit. United States leaders finally joined the line to support United Nations’ loss and damage fund to compensate pollutions and harmful activities.
“After unrelenting pressure, communities and activists won two breakthroughs toward accountability from the United States for decades of climate damages,” said Ben Goloff, climate campaigner at Center for Biological Diversity.
“US leaders finally agreed to a United Nations loss and damage fund for historically polluting countries to pay their fair share for climate harms to the Global South,” as stated by Goloff, whose work usually deals with petitions, legal actions and grassroot activism to protect endangered species.
Goloff is optimistic with this because the United States official itself has begun recognizing fossil fuels as the root of all our climate change problems. The officials have joined group of countries which pledged to phase down fossil fuels.
“We’ll be working this year to demand they walk their talk, reject new fossil fuel projects back home and safeguard against Big Oil-endorsed false solutions like carbon capture and offsets,” he answered when asked about the plan for the following year.
Positive Green Energy Trend
The year 2022 marked as the year of green energy generation. Bunch of reports talking about green energy generation showed incredibly positive trends, and what’s better is that the trend may keep on increasing positively for the next following years.
“The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) announcement in early December that global renewable power capacity growth is set to double over the next five years buoyed my spirits. The IEA reported that the world is set to add as much renewable power in the next five years as it did in the past 20,” said Director of Project Drawdown’s Drawdown Lift program, Kristen P. Patterson.
Patterson said that even though the main cause of the energy crisis in Europe and some other particular places is saddening, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, but it shows that many people are now starting to realize that going greener is better.
“This news gave me hope: expanding renewable energy rapidly in both high and low- and middle-income countries is essential for a more just and equitable world. 568 million people, 75 per cent of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa, still do not yet have access to electricity. That must change to eradicate extreme poverty and advance the right to sustainable development for all,” she said.
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