2022 is over and 2023 is warming up. Long live 1.5?

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Unsplash, Kasey Mccoy
Unsplash, Kasey Mccoy
2023-01-30

Despair is not an option. It’s time to mainstream 1.5° Lifestyles. 

Over 20.000 people have died in western Europe’s summer heatwaves, during Europe’s hottest summer on record, and January 2023 is set to be hottest January ever registered in the continent. 

In a year where war broke out at the European Union’s doorstep, the EU Commission rushed to #REPowerEU to phase out Russian fossil fuels, while some of its key member countries keep looking for big new investments in fossil fuel projects overseas (Germany announced a €1 billion investment in December, during a... cold spell).  

During all this, a question is getting louder and louder: How alive is 1.5, really? 

A pair of UK-based researchers argue that “The few credible pathways for an outside chance of 1.5°C are not being discussed”, adding that “This is an active choice by policymakers and experts, who have largely dismissed equity-based social change.” 

COP27 secured a new fund for climate disasters’ victims and COP15 (on biodiversity) saw more than 200 countries agreeing to conserve 30% of the world’s land and 30% of the ocean by 2030. Is this the start of something new? Will 2023 be any different? 

Despair is not an option. It’s time to mainstream 1.5° lifestyles. 

Diogo Silva; Hot or Cool Institute