Glaciers are shrinking, coral reefs are at risk, and last year was the hottest on record. As people continue to burn fossil fuels, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, are exceeding new dangerous thresholds. Are any places making progress on climate change?
The short answer is “It's complicated, but yes.”
In less than 10 years, one South American country has transitioned to generating nearly all of its electricity from a variety of renewable sources. In China, an electric car that costs just $5,000 suddenly became one of the biggest selling products. Paris is turning into a bicycle city.
These individual steps will not be enough to avoid the most serious consequences of climate change, such as worsening droughts, more intense storms, and human suffering. Still, it shows how quickly some places are achieving significant regional change.
Globally, “we're not moving as fast as we need to,” said Thomas Spencer, an analyst at the International Energy Agency. “But we definitely have the tools to work much faster.”
“The solutions to climate change actually exist. They are here now,” said Jonathan Foley, executive director of Project Drawdown, a nonprofit organization focused on climate action.
To commemorate Earth Day (and to appeal to environmentally conscious young voters), President Biden is pushing a new national program to train and hire people for climate-related jobs, and telling voters that after cutting inflation, It's a reminder of ongoing clean energy investments. Activities.
Although these programs are still in their infancy, there are places around the world where solutions to climate change are pervasive in everyday life.
Uruguay's energy revolution
Uruguay, a country of 3.4 million people sandwiched between Argentina and Brazil, generates almost all of its electricity from renewable energy. In 2008, the government set a goal to transform the electricity grid, which had become dependent on imported oil.
The country had a lot of hydropower, but years of drought in the 1990s and 2000s reduced dam output. Uruguay was instead forced to import oil at volatile prices and faced supply shortages and power outages. Officials took note of the growing cost competitiveness of renewable energy, particularly wind power, and set out to build a local wind industry almost from scratch.
From 2013 to 2018, wind power increased rapidly from almost nothing to accounting for about a quarter of Uruguay's electricity mix. By the end of 2022, the latest data available, Uruguay will be generating more than 90% of its electricity from renewables, with wind and solar growing even as hydropower declines.
This small country represents one particularly rapid example of the massive growth of renewable energy worldwide.
Electricity and heat together are the largest source of human greenhouse gas emissions. But renewable energy is now growing faster than electricity demand in “many countries” and displacing fossil fuels in the power sector, says Climate Analytics, an international climate science and policy organization. said Bill Hare, CEO and Senior Researcher. “Over the next five years, it will most likely put us on an orbit of 1.5 degrees or close to it.”
Transportation is the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Sales of electric vehicles have increased rapidly over the past decade, and China is by far the largest market for electric vehicles. According to the International Energy Agency, approximately 7.3 million battery electric vehicles were sold worldwide in 2022. More than half of these cars, approximately 4.4 million units, were sold in China.
Historically, large cities like Shanghai have led this trend. However, in recent years, smaller cities in China have begun to capture a larger share of the market. The two cities with the highest proportion of electric vehicles in total new car registrations in 2022 were Sanya, a beach resort city on Hainan Island, and Liuzhou, an industrial center in southern China. According to a recent report from the International Clean Transportation Council, battery electric vehicles account for about 40% of new vehicle registrations in both cities, significantly higher than the national average of 19%.
The success of electric vehicles in China depends partly on policy and partly on complete convenience and affordability. The most popular electric car in China right now is the Hongguang Mini, a small two-door model that costs about $5,000. The product is manufactured by SAIC GM Wuling, a three-way international joint venture, at its factory in Liuzhou.
Paris, the city of bicycles
In addition to electrifying their cars, some cities are looking to replace as many cars as possible with cleaner transportation options such as bicycles. In 2021, Paris authorities announced plans to make the city “100 percent bicycle friendly” over the next five years.
Paris had already begun a multi-year effort to rid the city center of cars, or at least reduce the number of cars. Between 2001 and 2018, the number of his car trips in Paris decreased by 60%. During the same period, public transport trips increased by 40% and bicycle trips by 20%.
Cycling has become even more booming in recent years, thanks in part to the installation of new bike lanes called “corona piste” during the coronavirus pandemic.,” or “Corona Lane.” According to the Paris Regional Institute, an urban planning organization that works with cities across Europe, the proportion of bicycle trips in Paris more than doubled from 5% to 11% between 2020 and 2024. .
Paris currently has more than 1,000 kilometers of cycle lanes, with current plans for an additional 180 kilometers, as well as tens of thousands of bicycle parking spaces and new traffic light patterns to prioritize bicycles and public transport.