The story of climate change is similar to the introductory monologue from the cult French movie La Haine. "It's the story of a man who falls from a fifty-story building. As he falls, he repeats to comfort himself: for now everything is fine, for now everything is fine, for now everything is fine."

Due to the increased emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHG), the planet has been warming due to human influences for years. Global warming caused by social activities has been happening since fossil fules became humanity's main drive. And as in the movie story, everyone sees something bad is going on - 97% of science articles confirm that climate change is caused by human activities, the public increasingly sees climate change as a big problem, children protest around the world - but those who are in the position to make decisions are acting in accordance with the mantra for now everything is fine, for now everything is fine, although it is obvious that we are falling faster. The "everything is fine" narrative is keeping us from preparing for the safe landing or making it less painful.

So far, much more has been done to accelerate the fall caused by climate change than to slow it down with preparations for safe landing. The global average temperature has increased by more than one degree Celsius, compared to the pre-industrial period. Sea levels have increased by over 20 cm since 1880, and are projected to grow from 30 to 122 cm by 2100.[1] In addition, the CO2 concentration in the air is steadily increasing and is currently at a record 412 ppm .

However, the climate change situation is not nearly as hopeless as falling from a building, but in order to avoid a catastrophic outcome, it is necessary to respond as soon as possible. The 2018 International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report states that we may only have 12 years left to counteract the long-term painful effects of climate change by keeping the temperature rise within 1.5 ° C.

Sustainable Development Goals: Objective 13. Take immediate climate action to combat climate change and its consequences

After years of warning from the academic community, climate change was recognized as a global threat by decision-makers at the 1992 Rio de Janeiro World Summit. Environmental issues have come to the fore in Rio, and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has been adopted among numerous resolutions. The UNFCCC is an international treaty aimed at "stabilizing greenhouse gases to a level that would prevent negative anthropogenic impacts on the climate system". After Rio, 25 annual climate summits were held, the Kyoto Protocol was signed first and the Paris Agreement afterwards, but the impression remains that there is no concrete climate action.

It is the necessity of climate action that has led the United Nations to include Sustainable Development Goal 13, which requires urgent climate action to combat climate change and its consequences. While there were positive steps in terms of proposed national contributions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, far more ambitious plans and accelerated action are needed to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Access to finance and capacity building support must be increased, especially for the least developed countries and small island developing countries, which have hardly contributed to climate change but are most affected by them.

Under Goal 13, there are five targets that are directly measurable across eight indicators. The targets relate to strengthening resilience and adaptive capacity to climate and natural hazards in all countries, integrating climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning, improving education, raising awareness and human and institutional capacity to mitigate climate change. raising $ 100 billion to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change, as well as operationalizing the Green Climate Fund, while promoting mechanisms for building capacity for effective climate change planning and management in least developed countries and among marginalized groups.

Climate action, followed by the implementation of appropriate public policies, should lead to a reduction in the number of casualties in natural disasters, along with the implementation of a disaster risk reduction strategy. The number of casualties and the amount of material damage caused by natural disasters is many times higher in developing countries today than in developed countries. According to the UN Secretary-General's report, in 1998–2017. direct economic losses from climate change-related disasters were estimated at nearly $ 3 trillion, while about 1.3 million people died from climate and geophysical disasters in the same period. It is therefore essential that the Green Climate Fund is fully empowered. The issue of financing mitigation and adaptation measures to climate change is one of the key ones, and therefore requires greater participation from developed countries, which are also major contributors to climate change, so developing countries could switch to cleaner energy.

The good news is that by April 2019, 185 countries have ratified the Paris Agreement and that there is a general statement that the individual targets for reducing GHG emissions must be even more ambitious.

What happens to climate action in Serbia?

The Balkans and Eastern Europe are parts of the world that are and will be increasingly affected by climate change over the average. The region is expected to become even warmer and drier, while long dry periods are offset by short periods of intense rainfall followed by flooding. Due to the rise in temperature, it is also possible to spread diseases - like malaria, which have so far been reserved for arid regions. This is just a part of the threats Serbia is already facing, so it seems that climate action and the adoption of mitigation and adaptation measures are a priority. Despite this, decision makers in Serbia follow the logic from the beginning of this article and do very little.

In 2017, Serbia ratified the Paris Agreement, thereby committing to apply the provisions of this Agreement. This is where the list of positive things to do with reducing GHG emissions and adapting to climate change begins and ends. Namely, through manipulating with statistics, Serbia has played its part in the fight against climate change, so real data on GHG emissions are still awaited. New thermal power plants are being built from Chinese loans, while old projects are being taken out of the drawer, which will further contribute to GHG emissions.

Climate change law to regulate this area is still pending, and despite the announcement that it will be adopted in 2019, it has not happened. Local governments, on the other hand, lack the financial resources and capacity to implement climate change adaptation measures at the local level.

The apparent lack of ambition at the state level did not prevent citizens from addressing this issue. Today, climate change is being talked about more than ever, there are specialized sites on the subject, the media is increasingly writing about the effects of global warming, and organizing panels, lectures, exhibitions and other events to draw attention to this issue. This year, for the first time, Serbia also had protests where children and young people demanded urgent climate action. Increasingly louder demands for the transition to clean energy, the declaration of a climate alert and citizen activism are the hope that we can land as safely as possible.

"It doesn't matter how you fall, but how you land."

(La Haine)

Predrag Momcilovic,  Belgrade Open School

Photo source: Belgrade Open School

[1] Find out more: https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals/goal-13-climate-action.html