Ecology and climate

Ecology and climate

Linked axes and problematic

Belongs to Innovations scientifiques et responsabilité and Identités et échanges. A guiding problematic: To what extent does the climate crisis force English-speaking societies to redefine progress and citizenship?

Key facts and figures (IPCC AR6, 2023)

• Global warming reached +1.1 °C above the 1850–1900 average.
• To keep below 1.5 °C, global CO₂ emissions must fall by 43 % by 2030.
• The US emits ≈ 14 t CO₂/capita; the UK ≈ 5 t; the world average ≈ 4.7 t.

Vocabulary

English	French
global warming	réchauffement climatique
greenhouse gas emissions	émissions de gaz à effet de serre
carbon footprint	empreinte carbone
renewable energy	énergie renouvelable
fossil fuels	énergies fossiles
sustainability	durabilité
biodiversity loss	perte de biodiversité
climate justice	justice climatique
net zero	neutralité carbone
greenwashing	écoblanchiment

Movements and figures

• Greta Thunberg and Fridays for Future.
• Extinction Rebellion, Just Stop Oil civil disobedience campaigns.
• David Attenborough, A Life on Our Planet (2020).
• Naomi Klein, This Changes Everything (2014); On Fire (2019).
• Indigenous climate activism: Standing Rock protests against the DAPL pipeline (2016).

Two opposing narratives

Techno-optimism — innovation will solve climate change: carbon capture, electric mobility, nuclear, AI for grid management.
Climate justice / degrowth — addressing climate change requires structural change, accountability of the wealthy nations and corporations historically responsible.

Useful arguments

• Climate change deepens inequalities: low-income countries face stronger floods, droughts and migrations.
• The Inflation Reduction Act (USA, 2022) channels USD 370 bn into clean energy.
• The UK Climate Change Act (2008) was the first law to set legally binding carbon budgets.

Sample paragraph

While the Inflation Reduction Act demonstrates a long-awaited green commitment from Washington, critics argue that without curbing the lifestyles of the world's wealthiest 10 % — responsible for nearly half of global emissions — even ambitious policies will fall short.