I needed 24 hours to calm down and start digesting the 2021 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th Assessment Report published on August 9. It does not say we are screwed, but the scientific facts speak for themselves. We have very little left of our time and global carbon budget for the transformative changes necessary to avert a climate apocalypse.
How did I feel as one of 5000 people listening to prominent scientists of the IPCC delivering the news? Not good. Of course, there is hope we can all unite (COP26 coming up later this year) and speed up meaningful action, but we’ve wasted important time not doing enough and fast enough. That’s now clear. Someone on LinkedIn dag up an old newspaper report dated August 4, 1912 with the headline “Coal consumption affecting climate”. That’s how long we knew fossil fuels are a no go. The Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum (WAAAM) in Hood River, Oregon exhibits a fully electric 1914 Detroit Electric Model 63. That’s how long we have known about the potential of EVs. Let that sink in.
My first reaction was disappointment and anger at our collective inability to face the greatest challenge of our times and act with unity even when the UN secretary general called the report “code red for humanity”. Before I do calm down and reboot my “positive action mode”, let me shout out: this is a race. The illusion of endless growth remains, but soon enough “survival of the fittest” might gain new meaning. Get ready TODAY. Get fit for the future. A very different one.