Despite the catastrophe and grief that climate change has brought forth, the future still has potential to be bright and hopeful – with solar. Each year, renewable energy such as wind and solar are becoming increasingly cost-competitive with power plants, especially coal. In various regions of the world: China, EU, U.S and India, solar and wind have become alarmingly prevalent, and have begun to overpower the need and cost of coal-fired power plants (Renewables 2020, Global Status Report, 2020). It is a fact that renewables are now beginning to outcompete their prehistoric competitors, (we are literally burning geological processes and organic matter from as far back as the Archaeon Eon, approximately 4.0 billion to 2.5 billion years ago) and thus, it is crucial that we begin to adopt progressive, innovative and sustainable energy sources (Kopp, 2020). One question remains, why do we continue on a path that is evidently catastrophic now only for ourselves, but for the countless generations to come when it is clear that solar energy is profitable, affordable and sustainable?

Furthermore, the costs that climate change will entail will far surpass the mitigation and prevention that it would require. Since the 1990’s alone, the United States has had over 219 climate related disasters, where the overall costs of damage surpassed 1.5 trillion dollars. These disasters have detrimental impacts: death, disease, injury and environmental degradation (Fletcher, 2019).

Governments, now, have shifted rescue to recovery and have begun “building back better” as a part of the green recovery measure. This will include greater investments in renewables, infrastructure, and job creation. A result of the green recovery measure will be better ecological health, human health, energy security and reduced GHG emissions. Cities also play an intricate role in addressing the climate crisis, as they account for approximately two-thirds of the global energy use, and three-quarters of the global CO2 emissions (Renewables 2020, Global Status Report, 2020). Governments have a responsibility to influence their citizens to begin engaging with renewables through the urban services they provide such as waste/wastewater management, housing, public transportation and, most importantly, through urban planning decisions such as rooftop solar. These daily decisions and services can contribute to attaining long term goals which support the following: improved public health, climate change mitigation, resilient infrastructure, reduction of air pollution, and job creation (Renewables 2020, Global Status Report, 2020).

The last few decades have proven the sense of urgency with which we must handle the climate crisis. By the end of last year, over 28 countries and 1480 jurisdictions had issued “climate emergency” declarations. Youth in 150 countries also took to the streets to protest against the lack of inaction in relationship to this complex problem. The culmination of both actions led to greater awareness in both renewable energy, such as solar powered energy, and the climate crisis itself. 94 mayors have adopted commitments to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, in support of the Global Green New Deal, which ultimately sets the precedent to not increase global warming above 1.5 degrees Celsius. Consequently, 77 countries, 10 regions and 100 cities around the globe have proclaimed that they are going to stand by their commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 (Renewables 2020, Global Status Report, 2020). However, is this fast enough?