Équiterre deciphers

As we ring in the year 2025, California is being ravaged by a series of devastating forest fires that have left at least 28 dead, consumed thousands of hectares and destroyed thousands of homes. This tragedy underscores the urgency of taking action against climate change, which is amplifying the frequency and gravity of forest fires and natural disasters.

At the same time, in a tragic first for our planet, we have learned that in 2024, planetary warming surpassed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, a limit that had been set by the Paris Agreement. As people who care about a greener and more just future, what do we do with this information?

In brief

• Why 1.5°C: if the average temperature increases by more than 1.5°C, the impacts of climate warming become considerably worse and difficult to manage. However, the 1.5°C warming average must continue for at least 20 years for us to consider that the limit has been surpassed.
  It’s like when you have a virus and develop a fever, the reading on your thermometer shows that your temperature is rising and you will feel the consequences on several levels. Well, that’s what’s happening to our planet.
• Why has the limit been surpassed: greenhouse gas emissions from human activity (energy, transportation, agriculture, etc.) are trapping the heat in our atmosphere and warming the planet.
• Consequences already visible: 2024 was the hottest year on record, in both summer and winter, and was marked by intense natural disasters around the globe: drought, flooding and forest fires, as we saw in Quebec. In Montreal, the year was 3.9°C hotter than average, according to Environment Canada. From an economic standpoint, natural disasters cost the global economy $320 billion.

How does this affect us?

The impacts of warming are not just climate-related. They affect our economies, societies, lives and health.

Grocery prices continue to rise, and certain food items are even disappearing from store shelves. We must also bid farewell to several animal and plant species and to the coral reefs that will disappear almost entirely due to climate warming.

We will also need to adapt to a new seasonal cycle. Our winters will no longer be the same, with less snow and thus fewer opportunities to take part in winter sports. Conversely, summers will become oppressive thanks to suffocating heatwaves and smog aggravated by ever-more-frequent forest fires, affecting our health and endangering the lives of our most vulnerable. Extreme events will become our new normal, requiring constant adaptation. Insurance costs will skyrocket, and some regions could even become uninsurable.

Concrete solutions

Surpassing the 1.5°C limit is a clear warning that action is urgently needed. Fortunately, concrete measures are feasible – and indispensable. Each tenth of a degree of increase that we avoid translates into fewer consequences and less suffering:

• Reduce our GHG emissions: nationally, we must drastically curtail our dependence on fossil fuels (carbon, oil and gas) – a 45% reduction by 2030 (over 2010) – and reach carbon neutrality by 2050, in favour of renewable energies.
  
• Protect our natural environments and our agricultural soils, which act as carbon and water collectors and naturally regulate the climate.
• Adapt our ways of life: prioritize public and active transportation in place of solo driving where possible, reduce meat consumption in favour of plant proteins and consume less and better.
  
• Talk solutions with those around you: you have the power to persuade those around you to make changes in their daily lives that will benefit not only the fight against the climate emergency but their quality of life and health.
  
• Vote for ambitious climate policies: governments have a crucial role to play, but so do you, and it all starts at the ballot box.
• Support organizations and scientists active in the fight against the climate crisis: make a donation to Équiterre to help us roll out concrete solutions.

Our take

The challenge is daunting, to be sure, but our ability to act and the urgency with which we must act are very real.

Our governments have the power to make decisions that will improve our lives. They must look beyond immediate electoral/economic interests and embrace bold policies, such as reducing fossil fuel subsidies, adopting strict emissions regulations, funding public transit and so forth. Such political courage also means overcoming resistance from industry lobbyists and mobilizing public opinion around measures that at times can be perceived as restrictive.

Given the rise of climate scepticism and climate disinformation, both in the United States and Canada, we must continue our collective efforts to limit the effects of climate change.

Équiterre is working on so many fronts. Help us grow stronger by making a donation.