2050Today
Climate Change is in your hands
By measuring your greenhouse gas emissions and by reducing them accordingly you can be the change you want to see as of today
2050Today is here to reverse the trend with your institution
Why it matters :
The planet has entered a state of emergency with unprecedented risk of damage to humanity and the environment. Global warming and the collapse of biodiversity are having fatal consequences on an exponential scale. Urgent action is needed at all levels – everywhere and now – to confront the threat.
United for zero emissions
Imagine a world where climate action for zero emissions is the natural course of action for everyone, entity or individual. 2050Today is about measuring our greenhouse gas emissions and reducing them accordingly to bring about the change we want today.
United by this vision, 60 institutions in international Geneva have decided to take action to confront the challenge of climate change by implementing 2050Today. Permanent Missions, international organisations and civil society entities have committed to measure and reduce their emissions while confirming their willingness to cooperate together for effective, inclusive and sustainable climate action.
Joining or supporting 2050Today means participating in a coalition of entities resolutely committed to reducing emissions and concerned about acting in accordance with a sustainable planet for future generations.
Latest news
‘Food miles’ have larger climate impact than thought
Global “food miles” emissions are higher than previously thought – accounting for nearly one-fifth of total food-system emissions – new research suggests.
Source : Carbon Brief
June 24, 2022
Committing to climate-responsible finance sends “strong signal of hope to all”
A webinar on 20 May underscored the importance of the recently released landmark joint appeal, “Climate Responsible Finance—A Moral Imperative Towards Children,” signed by the World Council of Churches (WCC), United Nations Environment Programme, Muslim Council of Elders, and New York Board of Rabbis.
Source : World Council of Churches – 2050Today member
June 22, 2022
In Deep Adaptation’s Focus on Societal Collapse, a Hopeful Call to Action
British academic Jem Bendell’s paper is a “Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy.” But many of its proponents embrace its precepts out of a “deep love for this planet.”
Source : Inside Climate News
June 18, 2022
Inside Clean Energy: Flow Batteries Could Be a Big Part of Our Energy Storage Future. So What’s a Flow Battery?
A battery project uses a technology that could be vital for meeting the need for long-duration energy storage.
Source : Inside Climate News
May 20, 2022
Fossil Fuels Aren’t Just Harming the Planet. They’re Making Us Sick
Petrochemicals are linked to diverse health problems from infertility to cancer, and now they’re building up in pregnant women.
Source : Inside Climate News
May 12, 2022
6 Things to Know About Direct Air Capture
While efforts to reduce GHG emissions should always take priority, meeting climate goals will also require carbon dioxide removal (CDR) — systems that remove carbon directly from the air — likely at the billion-tonne scale by mid-century. Carbon removal is needed not only to balance out residual emissions that cannot be or are not eliminated by 2050, but also to reduce the high concentration of carbon dioxide in the air, which is triggering increasingly devastating climate change impacts.
Source : World Resources Institute
May 11, 2022
Glass dismissed: wine goes green with paper bottle drive
While glass bottles have been part of the wine-drinking tradition for centuries, making the material requires huge amounts of energy at a time when companies are looking for ways to reduce the carbon footprint of their products. Recycling rates for glass are also poor.
Source : The Guardian
May 5, 2022
UN Report Says Humanity Has Altered 70 Percent of the Earth’s Land, Putting the Planet on a ‘Crisis Footing’
Agriculture is the biggest degrader of land, the authors say. Transforming farming practices could restore billions of acres by 2050 for less than is spent on developed-world farm subsidies.
Source : Inside Climate News
April 28, 2022
Iraq’s ancient buildings are being destroyed by climate change
Water shortages leading to rising salt concentrations and sandstorms are eroding world’s ancient sites
Source : The Guardian
April 21, 2022
4 Solutions to End Deforestation by 2030
The world loses 3-4 million hectares of primary tropical forest every year. When they disappear, so do the benefits they provide — everything from carbon storage to biodiversity protection. But there are solutions. Forest expert Frances Seymour lays out four ways to end deforestation in the next decade.
Source : World Resources Institute
April 21, 2022
March 2022: Earth’s 5th-warmest March on record
The month featured a $4 billion flood and a mass coral bleaching event in Australia, and an extreme heat wave in Antarctica.
Source : Yale Climate Connection
April 15, 2022
Climate Change Poses a Huge Threat to Railroads. Environmental Engineers Have Ideas for How to Combat That
Solutions that work in concert with nature could help address climate risks, experts say, but barriers remain to widespread adoption by the railroad industry.
Source : Inside Climate News
April 9, 2022
Time to act
To keep global warming below 1.5°, we must at all costs avoid depleting our carbon budget. All organisations must therefore reduce their emissions as much as possible – and as soon as possible – in order to comply with the IPCC special report’s warning to limit global warming to 1.5°C. At current emissions levels, this budget will be exhausted within a few years and well before 2030. Every moment is counting and the countdown is not stopping. So the time to act is today.
Act now ! Amanda Gorman, American Youth Poet Laureate
That’s how fast the carbon clock is ticking
The MCC Carbon Clock shows how much CO2 can be released into the atmosphere to limit global warming to a maximum of 1.5°C and 2°C, respectively. Once the remaining time has elapsed these thresholds will be exceeded. With just a few clicks, you can compare the estimates for both temperature targets and see how much time is left in each scenario.
2050Today
Carbon footprint
The world total carbon footprint in 2019 due to human emissions was around 37 gigatons of CO2 eq. These huge emissions are the accumulation of many and many … billions of big and small emissions that are the result of life styles and consumption.
To reach net zero emissions by 2050, the individual carbon footprint should not exceed 700 kg/ year of CO2 eq.
For the time being, the average individual footprint in Switzerland is 14 t CO2 eq. It means, we should divide our carbon footprint by 20. Let’s start and take up the challenge today.
Here is the carbon footprint of some everyday life aspects, be it the production of goods or the consumption of services (average values):
The weight of CO2
160 g can be compared to the weight a banana. It means that for each km by car we send a CO2 banana in the atmosphere …
Just imagine how it would be if these bananas were left on the roads
| Sources | Co2 Equivalent kg |
|---|---|
| One car | 4000 - 7000 |
| One personal computer | 165 |
| One smartphone | 33 |
| One e-mail | 0.020 |
| One kg of office paper | 1.2 |
| One Plastic bottle (33 cl.) | 0.070 |
| Vegetarian meal | 1.7 |
| Non-vegetarian meal | 3.6 |
| Coffee (1cup) | 0.113 |
| Green Electricity (kWh) | 0.007 |
| 1 km by petrol car | 0.160 |
| 1 km by train (in Switzerland) | 0.007 |
The global human footprint
The carbon footprint is only one part of the impact of human beings on planet Earth. To get a glimpse of our global impact, take a look at the graphic below.
We should also keep in mind how quickly our impact has grown. The Earth, our only available habitat, appeared some 4.5 billion years ago. The ancestors of human beings first appeared less than 10 million years ago.
In other words, if you were to compress the entire history of the Earth into 24 hours, the first Homo sapiens would only arrive in the last few seconds and the advent of agriculture would only be a blink of an eye before midnight.
To have a closer look, follow Living in the Age of Humans, a series of stories that examine the impacts of human presence on Earth.
The human impact so far
Major environmental-change categories expressed as a percentage relative to intact baseline. Red indicates percentage of category damaged, lost or otherwise affected; blue indicates percentage intact, remaining or unaffected. Frontiers in Conservation Science
