From smart agriculture to 3D-printed houses, 4IR tech can help combat the climate crisis

With COP27 approaching, countries will engage again on climate change matters and how best to tackle them. African countries are looking to make their voices heard in conversations about the financial aid that has been promised to them.

The increase in global temperatures caused by the build-up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is trapping heat and causing rapid climate change. This has significant implications for our planet, including more extreme weather events, rising sea levels and extinction of plant and animal species.

Through Sustainable Development Goal 13 (Climate Action), all countries are encouraged to take immediate action in the fight against climate change.

The climate crisis, however, is a global problem; it is also closely related to other Sustainable Development Goals; these latter relationships will ultimately affect how humanity can function and at the same time make it more challenging to tackle the issue.

For example, Sustainable Development Goal 2 aims to end hunger, but most agricultural products require specific environmental conditions to succeed; farmers cannot produce food when environmental conditions are not conducive. Wheat farmers in Nineveh, Iraq, are being forced to settle for lower prices because their harvest has been of poor quality due to the drought caused by climate change. Iraq has experienced extreme temperatures and droughts for at least the past two years.

Without any wheat to sell, most farmers in Nineveh are being forced to abandon agriculture in search of something that will put food on the table.

Read more in Daily Maverick: “When the climate crisis and 4IR converge, a new economy beckons”

During the First Industrial Revolution, increased steam engine use and fossil fuel burning was already leading to increased greenhouse gas emissions, negatively affecting our environment. This increase was due to the sudden rise in production and consumption.

Over the past century there has been an exponential rise in production and consumption, which is not sustainable in the long run. SDG 12 (Consumption and Production that is Responsible) and SDG 13 (Action to Combat Climate Change) stand in a negative relationship because as one decreases, so does the other.

On the other hand, intense droughts and heatwaves can destroy animal habitats, directly harming animals and endangering their lives. Recently in Zimbabwe, thousands of animals were moved from a reserve in the southern region to one in the north due to a lack of water.

People worldwide are witnessing how climate change can wreak havoc on the planet and are starting to realise the dangers of global warming.

In December 2015, more than 190 parties concluded the Paris Agreement on climate change, each agreeing to set plans to help the world reduce global warming to the 1.5°C threshold – this was COP21 (21st Conference of the Parties). As per the agreement, a 45% reduction in emissions must be achieved by 2030 and net zero by 2050.

With this agreement, countries are required to take increasingly ambitious climate actions and submit updated national climate action plans every five years.

During COP26 in Glasgow on 13 November 2021, 197 countries adopted the Glasgow Climate Pact, a new deal that reaffirms the Paris Agreement and puts an emphasis on the reduction of coal use.

Renewables and economic growth – finding a balance