Hollywood superstar Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock March 27 at the 94th Academy Awards function. It was over a poor joke which offended Will’s wife and enraged him to lose his temper in a fit of anger. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), on the other hand, released its sixth and final report in the current round April 4. The IPCC report talks about how humanity must achieve peak emission by 2025 or risk missing the last chance to keep global warming to below 1.5 degree C that would send our biosphere hurtling into an unimaginable existential crisis. For all practical purposes, all of the news about the dire warning has been drowned out by the Will Smith episode if you go by online and offline media.
Just out of curiosity, I searched the two news items as ‘IPCC Report’ and ‘Will Smith Slap’. The Microsoft search engine Bing returned 450,000 results for the former while 4.25 million for the latter in the news category. On the other hand, Google news returned 86 million for the IPCC report compared to 164 million hits for ‘Will Smith Slap’. This is as of April 10 at 5 PM Hong Kong Time! When a report that has been termed as ‘Now or Never’ gets less attention than a Hollywood star’s tantrums on an awards stage, we should really worry! This report followed the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) on the ‘physical science basis of climate change’ released in August that has been termed ‘Code Red’ for humanity by none other than the secretary-general of the United Nations António Guterres. After the release of the latest report he accused some governments and businesses of ‘lying’ and said it was the countries that are increasing production of fossil fuels, not climate activists, that are ‘truly dangerous radicals.’ He also said: “We are on a fast track to climate disaster; major cities under water, unprecedented heat waves, terrifying storms, widespread water shortages, the extinction of a million species of plants and animals.”
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Given our foolishness as a species staring at likely extinction in the foreseeable future, as exemplified above, the report dedicates an entire chapter on human behaviour – a first for IPCC. In its 30 years of history, the IPCC has produced six rounds of assessment reports, out of which the first three completely neglected the social aspects in favour of the technical. The 4th and 5th rounds gave only minor importance to the important questions that only political science, anthropology and social science can help answer. This blunder has now been partially corrected as the report seeks to rightly correlate the success of climate crisis mitigation action to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which require a more equitable and just climate transition. The report recommends that both achievement of SDGs and climate mitigation actions should be integrated to be effective. Only by mass participation in climate mitigation action by all sections of society in all nations can the world hope to achieve the seemingly impossible feat of net-zero emission by 2050 at the latest.
The report points out the stark inequality in the current climate crisis, where 50% of the emissions are due to the lifestyle of 10% of the wealthiest people, and the average carbon footprint is 175 times the average carbon footprint of the poorest 90%. The poorest among us are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis and have the least resilience to adapt. Therefore, the report calls for vigorous pursuit of the SDGs to create a more equitable society where all sections have a stake in reducing emissions, with the rich taking the lead.
The report points out climate mitigation actions that limit and reduce our use of the three main emission-intensive activities, namely, energy use, fossil fuel-powered transport and building construction sectors. Adapting alternatives already available in these key sectors can help reduce our emissions by up to 50-70% from the current level by 2050 and keep the goals of the Paris agreement still in reach. Solutions such as expanding affordable and clean public transportation, building more compact, walkable cities and ensuring energy-efficient buildings with lower demand for heating and cooling can go a long way. With the population of urban centres growing fast, driven by migration from rural areas, cities and their built infrastructure will play a crucial role in sustainability.
Accounting for embedded carbon in the construction materials such as cement and steel will be necessary. Similarly, reducing the operational carbon footprint from the massive demand for heating and cooling our homes, offices, and commercial buildings will be even more crucial. Extending the service life of already built infrastructure by more intelligent condition monitoring and maintenance will reduce the need to replace old and ageing buildings and structures. Similarly, smarter design and operation of buildings using the latest in machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies will be game-changers. Sustainability will be the key to this future, which will not only avoid a catastrophe for all humanity but also increase health and happiness, especially if a more equitable economic order can be ensured and the most vulnerable protected from the worst impacts.
If you search the phrase ‘Don’t Look Up’, Bing returns 7.49 million news hits and Google 987 million. It is a climate disaster themed movie released December 5, 2021 on Netflix. An American apocalyptic black comedy film written, produced, and directed by Adam McKay, it starred, among others, the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Ariana Grande, Cate Blanchett, and Meryl Streep. It tells the story of two astronomers trying to warn humanity about an approaching comet that will destroy civilization on earth.
However, the politicians and celebrities on earth are busy diverting people’s attention with their usual antics. There is a frenzy calling the masses not to ‘Look Up’ even when the comet is visible to the naked eye! Unlike the typical American blockbuster, this one ends badly with the comet actually destroying the earth. A few wealthy oligarchs escape in their space-faring rocket to another planet only to be eaten by alien creatures! Although the film was nominated for four categories at the now infamous 94th Academy Awards, it didn’t win any. It has, however thankfully set some all-time viewing records on Netflix. Maybe only Hollywood can ultimately shake us out of our deadly indifference to the climate crisis which feels like an unfolding disaster in slow motion.
The writer is a civil engineer, academician and technologist with a strong interest in the sustainability of the built environment. He is currently working in Hong Kong.
