Emitting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is like filling your bath and not turning the taps off.

Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change states unequivocally that without immediate and deep reductions in CO₂ and the other greenhouse gases across all sectors, limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial times is beyond reach. The climate emergency and biodiversity crisis mean we cannot put off until tomorrow what needs to be done today. We can all play a part in reducing CO₂ emissions.

Average global temperatures are currently 1°C hotter than in pre-industrial times due to human activities. A further rise to 2°C by 2100 will significantly worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and the resultant poverty for hundreds of millions of people as well as exacerbating the accompanying biodiversity crisis and loss or extinction of species globally. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report in 2018 set a target of limiting global heating to a maximum of 1.5°C to minimise this impact. This target is affordable and feasible, but action is needed now.

Globally, only 500 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide can be released into the atmosphere from 2020 onwards to keep the average global temperature rise to a maximum of 1.5°C. Currently global emissions of carbon dioxide are 45 billion tonnes a year. Emissions of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere must be balanced by removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and natural habitats have a key role in this process.

The current situation is like filling the bath. But we get distracted and do not turn the taps off. The overflow pipe can deal with that initially. But the taps are still on, the overflow pipe is overwhelmed and the bath overflows. The floor is flooded, and the ceiling of the room below collapses with water and plaster ruining everything.

We are pouring CO₂ into the atmosphere. The overflow pipe – the natural sinks of vegetation and the oceanic environment – are overwhelmed. The atmosphere is now so full of CO₂ that global heating is having dramatic effects throughout the world and human communities are being affected.

We need to turn the taps off and stop CO₂ going into the atmosphere. We need a bigger and better overflow pipe to help until the taps are fully turned off because the ceiling below is starting to come down. Extending and restoring and creating the global sinks that are the woodlands, forests, peatlands, wetlands, mangroves, seagrass meadows, salt marshes and kelp forests. Carbon emitted into the atmosphere needs to be removed from the atmosphere at a faster rate than it is going in.

We can all contribute by using renewable energy rather than fossil fuels, by using agriculture and woodlands and forestry to capture carbon, by insulating buildings and houses, by changing how we travel and what we eat. No one is too small to make a difference. We can all play a part in reducing CO₂ emissions.

John Box is a member of the SWT Carbon and Climate Group.