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Climate Change: Careers and International Action towards Its Mitigation

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*Image Source: Pexels

Have you ever felt like it just keeps getting warmer and warmer as the years go by? Does the heat make it so intolerable that you cannot seem to focus on what you have to do every day? Do you wish that you can grasp what is happening to the world? Does it bother you to think about the possible solutions? Then, you must consider careers in climate change.

Climate change is the result of the trapping of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases that keep warming the earth and has brought drastic changes in the climate such as melting of snowcaps, more extreme storms, and more extreme heat events. The scope is global when it comes to climate change. Solving it individually through choosing a career in climate change is a worthwhile cause. The better option is for concerned groups to gather together and brainstorm ideas on how to mitigate the problem.

The great news is that the international community has recognized this issue and many countries have participated in the mitigation of climate change. This article will cover the Green Climate Fund and COP 21.

COP21

According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s website, the COP is “The COP is the supreme decision-making body of the Convention. All States that are Parties to the Convention are represented at the COP, at which they review the implementation of the Convention and any other legal instruments that the COP adopts and take decisions necessary to promote the effective implementation of the Convention, including institutional and administrative arrangements.”

The 21st United Nations Conference on Climate Change Conference of Parties (UNFCCC-COP) was held in Paris, France in 2015. The 2015 Paris Agreement plans out the new path that the global community has to undertake to combat climate change.  The main goal is to toughen global efforts in fighting climate change by keeping a worldwide rise in temperature well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to limit further the increase in temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius. It also deals with the nations’ ability to deal with climate change impact.

The UNFCCC website states that, “to reach these ambitious goals, appropriate financial flows, including by, before 2025, setting a new goal on the provision of finance from the USD 100 billion floor, and an enhanced capacity building framework, including an Initiative for Capacity Building, will be put in place: thus supporting action by developing countries and the most vulnerable countries, in line with their own national objectives. The Agreement will also enhance transparency of action and support through a more robust transparency framework.”

Green Climate Fund

The Green Climate Fund is the largest financial unit of the UNFCCC. It plays a big role in the enabling of the Paris Agreement. Héla Cheikhrouhou, Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund, remarks that the GCF has already taken steps in supporting the efforts of the nations that signed the Paris Agreement. THE GCF Board has adopted a strategic plan that will lead the efforts in using the investments in a proper manner towards a development that will support low emission and climate resiliency. The GCF in 2015 has provided the required finance funds to support the mitigation and adaptation actions of developing countries towards climate change. The GCF has raised approximately USD 10 billion which has been transformed into signed investment agreements with the developing nations.  Countries who implement the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions will be supported by the Green Climate Fund. This action by GCF does not only support the objectives of climate change but it also supports the United Nations for Sustainable Development.

Careers in Climate Change

Concerted global efforts towards the mitigation of climate change are being performed by countries through their implementation of the Paris Agreement and previous COPs aligned in their national objectives. However, simple people who want to make a change can have the following careers in climate change.

Earth Science Teacher or Professor

Teaching is the noblest profession. The better if a person chooses earth science as a major in teaching young minds about climate change. The problems in climate change can slowly be resolved if children starting from pre-school can understand the simple concept of climate change. As there is a spiral approach to studying, this can be deepened by slowly discussing how children can contribute to lessening the carbon footprint that they produce every day. Imagine that all children from all over the world will do their role as simple citizens of this world. The impact would be great.

Climate Change Analyst

A climate change analyst can either choose a scientific career or a political career. The former involves the collection and analysis of raw data, while the former is concerned with the laws and policies. Climate data is broad but some of these include ocean conditions, greenhouse gases, atmospheric temperature, and nice masses. These data are utilized to create models and to predict the possible climate changes in the earth’s future. Economic and physical impacts of such changes are evaluated by climate change analysts.

Climate Finance Specialist

The United Nations has job vacancies regarding this position.  The United Nations Website explains that “The primary function of the incumbent will be to lead and develop climate mitigation programs for new climate and carbon finance market based instruments under development (i.e. Transformative Carbon Asset Development Fund) and provide high level operational support to existing initiatives such as the Carbon Partnership Facility (CPF) and the Carbon Initiative for Development (Ci-Dev).”

Renewable Energy Expert

The United Nations also has careers related to renewable energy. This international consultant is in charge of designing and implementing projects that are undertaken in line with the guidance of the UNDP and the specific donors.

In one of the previous blogs about climate change in relation to social responsibilities of emerging leaders, it has been reiterated that leaders should be concerned about the effects of climate change. The need to train these emerging leaders can be resolved by finding an executive recruitment consultant that will be part of the special climate change team that a company wants to create.

If you believe that you can work in any of the aforementioned careers in climate change, then it is hoped that you take the challenge and be part of the climate change team that will help resolve this global issue. The choice is yours to hop on and be part of the change.

 

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