by There has been no shortage of grim climate news this year: unprecedented global heat caused deadly extreme weather events, scientists issued dire warnings that next year could be even worse, and global carbon pollution continued to rise.
But amid the pessimism, there have also been signs of progress. Records have been set for renewable energy, the world celebrated one of its greatest environmental achievements and countries took a cautious but historic step towards a fossil fuel-free future.
Here are five reasons to have hope.
A boom in renewable energy
As the need to quickly transition away from planet-warming fossil fuels becomes increasingly urgent, there have been some bright spots in clean energy around the world.
On Halloween, Portugal began a record streak. For more than six days in a row, between October 31 and November 6, the nation of more than 10 million people relied solely on renewable energy sources, setting an exciting example for the rest of the world.
The year 2023 is on track to see the largest increase in renewable energy capacity yet, according to the International Energy Agency.
China, the world’s largest climate polluter, has made lightning advances in renewable energy, and the country is set to smash its wind and solar energy target five years early. A report released in June found that China’s solar capacity is now greater than the rest of the world’s nations combined, in an increase described by the report’s author, Global Energy Monitor, as “staggering.”
However, it cannot be ignored that China also increased its coal production This year, they turned to fossil fuel as devastating heat waves increased demand for energy for air conditioning and refrigeration, and the persistent drought in the south of the country affected hydroelectric supplies, which depend on sufficient rainfall.
Hopes were raised that the country’s coal production would peak and decline soon when China and the United States announced in November that they would resume cooperation on climate change, promising a major increase in renewable energy, specifically to replace fuels. fossils.
A climate agreement that targets fossil fuels
After more than two weeks of tense negotiations, the COP28 climate summit in Dubai concluded in December with nearly 200 countries making an unprecedented commitment to move away from fossil fuels.
While the agreement stopped short of requiring the world to phase out coal, oil and gas (something more than 100 countries had supported), it did call on countries to “contribute” to a “transition away from fossil fuels.” in energy systems”. This was the first time that all fossil fuels, the main drivers of the climate crisis, were the subject of a COP agreement.
COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber, who chaired the negotiations, called the agreement “historic,” adding that it represented “a paradigm shift that has the potential to redefine our economies.”
The impact this agreement ultimately has will depend on what countries do next to implement it. Many experts warned of loopholes that could leave the door open to continued expansion of fossil fuels.
But the fact that a deal was reached on fossil fuels was widely welcomed and seen as a breakthrough.
“We got people to do things they hadn’t done before,” US climate envoy John Kerry told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour after the summit, calling it a “historic success.”
Deforestation decline in Brazil
After years of rapid deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, this year there was good progress in reducing forest destruction.
The Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world and its protection is considered vital to curbing climate change. It acts as a carbon sink that absorbs planet-warming pollution from the atmosphere. When forests or trees are destroyed, greenhouse gases are emitted. Deforestation and land degradation are responsible for at least a tenth of the world’s carbon pollution.
Deforestation in Brazil fell 22.3% in the 12 months to July, according to national government data, as President Luiz Ignácio Lula da Silva began to make progress on his promise to curb the rampant destruction of forests that occurred during the government of his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.
Marcio Astrini, head of the Climate Observatory advocacy group, described it as an “impressive result” that “seals Brazil’s return to the climate agenda.”
Still, Brazil’s deforestation rate remained almost double its record low in 2012. About 9,000 square kilometers of rainforest were destroyed in that period. There is a long way to go to fulfill Lula’s promise of achieving zero deforestation by 2030.
The ozone layer is healing well
Earth’s ozone layer is on track to fully recover within decades, a UN-backed panel of experts announced in January, as ozone-depleting chemicals are phased out around the world.
The ozone layer protects the planet from harmful ultraviolet rays, but since the 1980s, scientists have warned of a hole in this shield due to ozone-damaging substances, including chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were widely used in refrigerators, aerosols and solvents.
International cooperation has helped stop the damage. An agreement known as the Montreal Protocol, which came into force in 1989, began the phase-out of CFCs. The subsequent recovery of the ozone layer has been hailed as one of the world’s greatest environmental achievements.
If global policies are maintained, the ozone layer is expected to recover to 1980 levels by 2040 in most of the world, according to the assessment. For polar areas, the recovery period is longer: 2045 in the Arctic and 2066 in Antarctica.
However, a study published in November casts some doubt on this progress. He paper, published by Nature Communications, found that a hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica “has not only remained large at the surface, but has also grown deeper throughout most of the Antarctic spring.” But some scientists were skeptical of the study’s findings, saying it was based on too short a period of time to draw conclusions about the coat’s long-term health.
Increase in sales of electric vehicles
The popularity of electric vehicles has increased this year, with sales in the United States at an all-time high. People in China and Europe are also purchasing electric vehicles in large numbers.
Electric vehicles, which are better for the planet than gasoline and diesel cars when powered by renewable energy sources, are key to decarbonizing road transport, which is responsible for around a sixth of the pollution that warms the planet worldwide, according to the International Organization. Energy Agency.
Americans bought 1 million all-electric vehicles in 2023, an annual record, according to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance report.
According to the report, electric vehicles accounted for about 8% of all new vehicle sales in the US during the first half of 2023. In China, electric vehicles accounted for 19% of all vehicle sales, and in Worldwide, they accounted for 15% of new passenger vehicle sales.
Sales of electric vehicles in Europe increased by 47% in the first nine months of 2023, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (EAMA). However, car dealers have warned that sales are falling as consumers wait for cheaper models, expected within two to three years.
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