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ELECTION 2018
cent, and 3·1 per cent, globally for each 1°C increase in
global mean temperatures.
STEPS REQUIRED
Nevertheless, the continued expansion of renew-
able energy, increased investment in health system
adaptation, improvements in sustainable transport,
and growth in public engagement suggests ongoing
reasons for cautious optimism. At a time when the
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is
preparing to review commitments under the Paris
Agreement in 2020, accelerated ambition and action
is required in order to meet the world commitment to
remaining “well below 2°C”.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC)’s 2018 Special Report on Global Warming of
1·5°C emphasizes the scale of the response required:
global annual emissions must halve by 2030 and
reach net-zero by 2050 to limit warming to 1·5°C,
while recognizing that no amount of climate change
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HEALTH
is considered safe.
Analysis focused on one of these pathways—clean-
er air through more sustainable transport and power
generation systems.
The threat is for real as efforts to reduce gaseous
emissions fall short of the aim to keep the change in
temperature at 2°C, as per the Paris agreement. The
result of this failure is there for all to see in the form of
Mother Nature turning hostile as brutal floods, raging
wildfires, killing heat waves, melting glaciers — are
the grim pointers to a deadly and dangerous future.
Can we allow our kids to be burdened by the polluting
after-effects of our reckless actions?
Rapid rise of deadly dengue, diarrhea, and other
infectious diseases among children is a warning from
nature to mend. We owe it our children to provide
them a place to live in a healthy environment. We
cannot ignore any more the ominous signs, the ugly
portends.
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