Welcome to Backstory, a weekly newsletter turning global technology shifts into a three-minute read. This week, we’re thinking about recent developments concerning climate change – Mary Ames, Director of Strategy

THE BIG TAKE

Getting Serious About Climate Change

A sweeping new United Nations-sponsored report has confirmed what most people have known for quite some time: the planet is getting warmer and efforts to curtail the temperature change are falling short. Critically, the report determined that the Earth’s temperature will warm by 1.5°C sometime between 2030 and 2035. This figure is a key benchmark for the Paris Agreement on climate change and once reached will have disastrous effects on myriad aspects of our climate. It’s not about warning that change is coming, the report confirmed that we need to redouble efforts at finding solutions for the problem of climate change.  

Finding solutions: The report found that only extremely rapid, steep, and sustained greenhouse gas emissions cuts (in the ballpark of net negative values) could avoid the 1.5°C target over the long term. At this stage that would mean that advanced economies would have to essentially pause their own economic growth targets. It’s just not practical to think there will be enough goodwill in advanced economies to stop growth in order to save the planet. Instead, there needs to be a new focus on finding solutions that help the climate and encourage economic growth. 

Global cooperation:As one of the world’s leading oil producers, it might seem ironic that the UAE (and other Gulf countries) are at the forefront of finding solutions to the problem of climate change. By investing in several initiatives from agricultural technology to renewable energy, the UAE is demonstrating how an economy built on hydrocarbons can shift to renewables and continue to grow. A warming planet will hit the Gulf region especially hard so it makes sense that action is being taken right away to mitigate the effects of climate change. The bottom line is that global cooperation is needed now more than ever on climate change and regions hit particularly hard like the Gulf will take the lead in finding solutions for a safe future.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“It’s a collective endeavour, it’s collective accountability and it may not be too late”

–Christine Lagarde, the IMF Managing Director, on climate change

OUR VIEWS THIS WEEK

Leading the vaccine drive: The Global South is still lagging behind in vaccinations against Covid-19. The best way to defeat the virus is by manufacturing vaccines in countries that desperately need them. This week, we explore how the UAE can help solve this problem. The UAE has the right infrastructure and talent to bolster a global vaccination drive and this could prove to be the way we defeat this virus. 

Expo 2020 is around the corner: The countdown is on! Expo 2020 is less than 100 days away, and Dubai is gearing up to welcome the world. The world, however, is a much different place than we thought it would be when the Expo was originally envisioned for Dubai. Instead of shying away from the changed realities we all face, the UAE is embracing them for this Expo. In fact, the country is showing its leadership in the post-pandemic landscape having just secured its position as the world’s most vaccinated country. The UAE is demonstrating through action that it is ready to lead in the post-pandemic world.

SPOTTED ELSEWHERE

The truth about solar: Renewable energy is one way to help mitigate the climate change crisis we are all facing. But there is a dirty secret about the renewable energy sector: producing the technology often depends on coal. The Wall Street Journal published a must-read report looking at how many of the solar panels used in the US are produced in coal-powered Chinese plants. 

Startup cities: What does it take to become a startup city? Sure, we have heard about startup cities for some time now but what is embedded into their DNA? Balaji Srinivasan looks at the growth of Miami to find answers about how startup cities are now emerging. Among the interesting observations he pulls out is the realisation that the next Silicon Valley is in the cloud.

QUICK HITS

• Is China “smashing” its technology sector? 

• Time for Afrofuturism. 

• Twitter’s CEO thinks Bitcoin will unite the world but doesn’t know how.

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