How Payments Can Help Save The Planet

Technology can help businesses and consumers be more sustainable

Disclaimer: views expressed here are my own and do not represent any other organisation

A world struggling for 1.5°C

In March, the UN published the Climate Change 2023: Synthesis Report. The report was the output of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The last such report having been published back in 2014.

The report stated that temperatures have now risen 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels. In 2015 at the Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, world leaders agreed to try and limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.5°C.

The Synthesis Report concluded :

The 1.5°C limit is still achievable and [this report] outlines the critical action required across sectors and by everyone at all levels. 

But, despite the efforts of civil society and - some - politicians, it will take a lot of work to meet this target. Meeting this target requires a considerable reduction in emissions. Also meeting the target means significant growth in technologies such as carbon capture.

To hit 1…