We proved up to the tasks of figuring out the drivers of climate change and devising a comprehensive global strategy for addressing it. Now, it is up to governments to lead, businesses to innovate, and societies to come together, in service of a common cause: building a sustainable future.
NEW YORK – Evidence of the devastation that awaits us if we fail to address climate change continues to mount. Recent catastrophic flooding in Asia and Western Europe, record-shattering temperatures in North America, and raging wildfires in southern Europe – all of which mirror disasters that developing countries have faced in recent years – remind us that no country is safe. The future of each one depends on the actions of all.
The scientific perspective is bleak. In May, the World Meteorological Organization warned that there is a 40% chance that the annual average global temperature will exceed 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels, at least temporarily, in the next five years – and the odds continue to rise. This could trigger potentially disastrous tipping points.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is now putting the finishing touches on its next major climate-change report, to be issued prior to the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow. Each successive IPCC report has been starker than the last, and there is no reason to think the next one will break this pattern.
NEW YORK – Evidence of the devastation that awaits us if we fail to address climate change continues to mount. Recent catastrophic flooding in Asia and Western Europe, record-shattering temperatures in North America, and raging wildfires in southern Europe – all of which mirror disasters that developing countries have faced in recent years – remind us that no country is safe. The future of each one depends on the actions of all.
The scientific perspective is bleak. In May, the World Meteorological Organization warned that there is a 40% chance that the annual average global temperature will exceed 1.5° Celsius above pre-industrial levels, at least temporarily, in the next five years – and the odds continue to rise. This could trigger potentially disastrous tipping points.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is now putting the finishing touches on its next major climate-change report, to be issued prior to the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow. Each successive IPCC report has been starker than the last, and there is no reason to think the next one will break this pattern.