Christiana Figueres, the new Dan David Prize winner, managed three years ago to do the impossible and convince representatives of 197 countries to sign the Paris Agreement on climate change and commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. At the annual conference for science and the environment, she will reveal what exactly happened behind the scenes in Paris, what else can be done to deal with the climate crisis and how she maintains optimism in the face of the difficult predictions for the future
Shahar Bookman, Angle - news agency for science and the environment
"We are standing now, at the beginning of the 21st century, at a critical crossroads, and we will determine, collectively, which way we will walk in this century: on a path of damage and destruction or on a path of opportunities, economic growth and quality of life. Each of us participates in this decision in our day-to-day choices." Cristiana Figueres is considered one of the most important figures in the world when it comes to the fight against the climate crisis, and although - and perhaps precisely because - she knows all the forecasts, reports and data that predict a bleak future for the planet and humanity, she maintains "stubborn optimism", as she defines it, about our chances to slow down the effects The climate crisis.
Figueres served as chairman of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2010-2016. In this role, she led the world from a sense of severe disappointment following the failure of the climate conference in Copenhagen in 2009 (COP 15), to the formation of a broad global consensus that led to a historic achievement in the form of the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015. In the agreement, 197 countries of the world decided unanimously to change the face of the world's economy from Carbon-based to produce less greenhouse gas emissions and be flexible enough to deal with the effects of climate change.
At the end of her term, she ran for the position of UN Secretary General. Today, she invests most of her teaching in informational activities as part of the project she founded "Global Optimism", which seeks to promote environmental and social change in the world. In her understanding, there is no place for the pessimism prevalent in the world regarding the future of humanity in the shadow of the climate crisis, and adopting an optimistic approach, accompanied by anger regarding the causes of the crisis and its possible consequences, will help create social and environmental change.
Figueres, born in 1956, grew up in Costa Rica, as the daughter of one of the country's most important political elite families. Her father, Jose Figueres Ferrer, served as the country's president for three terms, her mother, Karen Olsen-Beck, served as the country's ambassador to Israel (in the early 80s), and her brother, Jose Maria Figueres, also served as the country's president. Figueres began her career in the public service of Costa Rica (in the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Planning, and Agriculture). Later in her life she engaged in climate diplomacy: she founded and chaired an organization that promoted the participation of Latin American countries in the UN climate conferences, represented Costa Rica in these conferences for 15 years, contributed greatly to the support of the developing countries in the Kyoto agreements and before being elected to chair the framework convention of The United Nations for Climate Change served as vice-chair.
In recent weeks, she visited Israel on two different occasions - once to receive the prestigious Dan David Award, and a second time due to her participation as a guest lecturer at the annual conference on science and the environment, during which she will speak, in a lecture open to the general public, about the running out of time to find solutions to the climate crisis and offer practical suggestions for how each One of us can act for a better future.
What needs to be done in order for the climate agreement signed under your leadership in Paris to actually come true?
"It is interesting to examine climate change in a generational context. Previous generations bequeathed us the lifestyles that created the climate change problem, but they didn't realize it was a problem at the time. My generation is the first to understand that the climate is changing, and it is the one that developed the scientific understanding that the world has a problem and its scope. My generation can also be credited with the initiation of two important processes: the development of the technology that will help in providing an answer to the problem, and the creation of a change in the economic system in the direction of a green economy. These are processes that my generation is starting, but it will not be able to bring them to maturity. This is already the task of the next generation, of the young people living today on Earth."
"The next generation is the one who will experience the full effects of climate change during their lifetime. My generation only experienced a taste of it. The strength of that full effect will now be determined. Therefore, this point in time is unusual in world history due to its influence on determining the future of the quality of life for at least the next hundred years."
"We are moving in the right direction. About five years ago, the scientific forecasts included a large range of future possibilities - an increase of 6-4 degrees in the global temperature. Three and a half years ago, the governments of the world adopted the Paris Agreement, and pledged to limit the increase in temperature to 1.5 degrees, or at least to a reasonable range below 2 degrees. It has not yet been achieved of course, but it will lead us to a better future, relative to those predictions. Of course, all this if, and only if, the Paris Agreement is implemented within a reasonable period of time."
"When we drew up the agreement, we thought that the range of 1.5-2 degrees is a margin that is reasonable to operate within. We did not know then what was published a few months ago: the conclusions of the IPCC showed that we were completely wrong, and that the same gap of half a degree could cause an abysmal difference. An increase of another half a degree will be responsible for doubling the loss of species and the destruction of infrastructure and economic systems, and doubling or even tripling the number of people who will be exposed to life-threatening extreme heat. Therefore an increase of 2 degrees would be a moral sin, because if it happens, it will happen even though we know its consequences for suffering and destruction. Therefore, the conclusion is that the goal must be an increase of up to 1.5 degrees and no more."
So far, 185 countries have ratified the agreement and are working to realize its principles within the framework of national action plans. A severe blow to the agreement was dealt by the Trump administration, which announced its intention to withdraw from the agreement (intention that it could only enter into force in November 2020). Among the critics of the agreement, renowned climate scientist Dr. James Hansen claimed that the agreement is full of important promises but lacks real commitments.
Where are we in terms of meeting this goal?
"We are currently on the verge of many breakthroughs, at least in some sectors that can contribute to solving the climate crisis. Coal, for example, is the sector whose contribution to climate change is the most significant, so I am very encouraged by the fact that we are now seeing the end of the coal era. Coal not only causes greenhouse gas emissions, but also causes severe health damage. Therefore, and since renewable energies have become competitive, more and more coal-fired power plants are being closed around the world."
"In front of our eyes, a wonderful revolution is also taking place, causing the demand for oil to decrease. The transition to electric propulsion of vehicles causes a rapid decrease in the demand for fuel. In 2017, the market value of Tesla (then only a four-year-old company) surpassed the market value of GM (which was then 110 years old). The rapid rise of Tesla caused the major car manufacturers to also enter the production of electric vehicles, due to the fear of losing the huge market share that was created. Several countries have set a deadline (within 10-15 years) to stop selling vehicles with an internal combustion engine. This happens even in developing countries - India, for example, has set such a goal for 2030."
"The positive change is also taking place in the field of energy from renewable sources - until a decade ago only 4% of the electricity in the world was generated from renewable sources, today it is already 12%, and every four years the global installed capacity of energy from renewable sources doubles. The costs have never been so cheap, and to my delight, this is collapsing the coal economy."
After the Paris Agreement, there was concern that many countries, especially large and developing economies such as China and India, had taken on too ambitious goals. But for Figures it is important to allay these concerns and even show that pessimism is not a recipe for success. "China reached the solar energy production rate two years earlier than the date it committed to in the Paris Agreements (2018 instead of 2020). India, which committed in the Paris Agreements to produce 40 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030, recently decided that in fact this is too low a threshold for it, and decided to raise the target to 60 percent by 2027.
I believe that if we continue in the current direction by the year 2030 half of the electricity in the world will be produced from renewable sources. Beyond contributing to the fight against climate change, all the changes I described improve air quality in the world. We cannot accept the reality where 7 million people die every year because of air pollution."
What causes the changes you describe?
"Technological advances, cost reduction, policy frameworks, and economic forces that choose to invest in sectors with lower risks and insure them. If we add to this the expected effects from the combination of the information revolutions and artificial intelligence, we will realize that there is no limit to our ability to progress."
"However, it is important to note that the rapid change I described before does not occur in the areas of forest protection and restoration of depleted soils (because we have not yet been able to build the economic mechanism to take care of this), nor in the heavy industries that are large energy consumers. Despite this, even in these industries, reducing carbon emissions is solvable and possible."
"The process of reducing carbon dioxide emissions is the growth engine of the 21st century, which will lead to 65 million new jobs in the 21st century. To fuel this engine we need: for the change to happen quickly, for all sectors, technologies and countries to contribute, for there to be systemic and behavioral changes; That a trillion dollars a year be invested in the issue, and that the required policy be determined more quickly."
Here in Israel, the public agenda is loaded with many issues that seem to be more urgent. How can you convince decision makers and politicians that the climate crisis requires them to act responsibly and deal with it urgently?
"The process of solving the crisis is a multi-stage process, in the end politicians are also involved in it. But we should not wait with bated breath for it to happen, nor cast our hearts on it. Scientists have been delivering this message for decades; The public is waking up and exerting pressure (only in the last few months have we seen the effect of the demonstrations in England and student protests all over the world); The technological developments, thanks to which the well-being of life increases at a rapid rate, can be harnessed in favor of solutions. For example, it is not correct to define obtaining government budgeting for emissions reduction and adaptation as an exclusive goal, but the resources and capabilities of different sectors must be harnessed. All this happens when the understanding permeates that the crisis is not the property of the future, but that it is already here and we must prepare for it now."
There is a widespread perception in Israel that since we are a country that emits few greenhouse gases in relation to global emissions, and due to the culture of innovation that has led to the development of technological capabilities in the fields of agriculture, water, cleantech, etc., our potential contribution to humanity is not in reducing greenhouse gas emissions but in developing means of adapting to climate change, especially in desert countries. Does that sound like the right approach to you?
"I really appreciate the State of Israel. I visited it several times, since my childhood. I appreciate the spirit of innovation and the resilience of the country facing difficult threats. The geopolitical space that Israel is in indeed dictates to it the need to face challenges that other developed countries do not face, and this is a great opportunity to harness Israeli innovation in order to respond to unique challenges. But none of this is an excuse. Israel has a great and unrealized potential for reducing emissions in its area by solar energy and wind energy. Therefore, there is no logic in Israel still importing coal."
Where do you get your optimism from?
"I believe that it is not the problem itself that defines whether it is solvable or not, but rather our attitude towards the problem that defines it. Climate change is a solvable problem, and we can all solve it together."
"I am a big believer in persistent optimism. Optimism is not something we experience in hindsight following success (it is something else - celebrating successes - and we should do it more often). Optimism is the preliminary assumption, when we approach a task, regarding the chances of its success. Optimism is the understanding that the impossible is not a fact, but a (wrong) attitude. As a marathon runner will not be able to complete the race if he is not optimistic about his ability to finish. Persistence is essential because we know that on our way to realizing the optimistic vision we will encounter many challenges and obstacles, and we should not shy away from them, but see them as opportunities."
More of the topic in Hayadan:
- "The decisions we will make in the next ten years regarding the climate will affect hundreds and even thousands of years" (Christina Figueres at the 2019 Dan David Award ceremony)
- There is a close connection between global warming and extreme weather events
- Chairman of the Subcommittee for Oversight of the Implementation of the Paris Decisions: Israel will not meet its commitments to reduce emissions
