Global Action Plan welcomes “UN’s handbook on fighting climate change”

Global Action Plan, an environmental NGO based in Ballymun, has welcomed the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

“In recent months, the IPCC has published a number of reports with scientific evidence that climate change is already having detrimental impacts on people and on the planet. Today’s report goes one step further, and provides UN member countries with a guide, a handbook, on how to stop climate change,” said Hans Zomer, CEO of Ballymun based Global Action Plan.

In the report published on 4 April, UN climate experts propose a series of measures on how societies and economies must transform to ensure the world remains liveable for all humanity.

The report says we must urgently reduce the level of greenhouse gas emissions, and make transformational changes to the way we organise our societies, ranging from energy generation and industry, to how we plan and manage cities, transportation and food systems.

“What we need now is radical change at all levels: individuals, communities, companies and countries. We need to change the rules, change our habits and change our mindsets.”

In its response, Global Action Plan emphasised the core message of the IPCC report that we need urgent and radical change, at all levels of society.

As an organisation focused on behaviour change, it highlighted the IPCC’s conclusions on reducing the “demand side” of our climate pollution.  

“Today’s IPCC report calls for coordinated action to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. It calls for urgent and deep cuts in use of fossil fuels, and for ‘coordinated action throughout value chains to promote all mitigation options, including demand management, energy and materials efficiency, circular material flows, as well as abatement technologies and transformational changes in production processes.’

In other words, the scientists call on everyone of us to take responsibility for the crisis.

Ireland is, per capita, one of the worst climate polluters, and a large part of our national greenhouse gas emissions is related to how we have chosen to live our lives. The decisions we make at home contribute directly to our poor climate track record as a country: how we heat our homes, how we cook, what we eat, how we travel, and the products we buy.

At Global Action Plan we help people understand the extent of their own personal contribution to our unsustainable lifestyles, and – more importantly – we support people in devising strategies to reduce their own impact. These actions are important in themselves, and they also inspire others to make the changes that we so urgently need,” concluded Zomer.