2. Actions and Reactions in a World of Different Geopolitical Priorities

This chapter looks at what the world is doing so far to mitigate the climate change and if this is enough. It also examines the role of technology in mitigating climate change as well as the role of the various geopolitical events in delaying governmental efforts to decarbonise human activities. At first the chapter presents, the plans and declared actions of six major economies for decarbonisation and climate change mitigation as well as for adaptation to face the potential impacts. The six economies examined are, China, the European Union, the USA (under the Biden administration), India, Russian Federation, and Brazil. For the first three and especially for the European Union, the presented data are given in sufficient detail which the reader will find useful as a tentative blueprint for use in other potential cases. For the other three the presented information is a short summary of the information provided by these countries in their Nationally Determined Contribution (NDCs) reports which they submitted to the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Despite the ambitious plans and policies for decarbonisation announced by national or international governments, the world so far is slow in implementation actions with local wars and other political and geopolitical upheavals usually delaying or cancelling all together plans and priorities for enforcing policies for decarbonisation. They destabilise whole regions causing diversion of funds to military or other expenditures that otherwise could have been devoted to climate mitigation and adaptation actions. Further to the assessments made by the authors, the assessments made by various independent international organisations are presented and their results are assessed and discussed. The overriding conclusion is that the world is not on track to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, and this conclusion is accentuated by the complete reversal of US climate policies of the new (in 2025) US government. In concluding, this chapter attempts to answer the question: In the wake of failure can technology help? It notes that the era of “climate AI”, as well as of “mobility AI”, is already here and excitement over these technologies is great. Early applications are almost everywhere, and AI software is now in the core of practically all “soft” technologies used for climate change mitigation and adaptation applications as well as for control and optimisation of transport and mobility operational processes. The arguments in favour of the application of new technologies and AI in the field of transport and mobility are presented and at the same time the reader is cautioned of the challenges that exist which include managing the risks inherent in financing the development and application of new technologies, using ethically the novel technologies of AI, rethinking core business processes and retraining or developing new skills and capabilities in the workforce. Last but not least, the most important issue of securing robust data in terms of quality and quantity is brought up as necessary in order to build and train the new AI algorithms and models.