Confronting Climate Change

The global climate change caused by human activities is occurring now, and it is a growing threat to our society. The pace of change and the evidence of harm have increased markedly over the last twenty years. The scientific evidence and accumulating data from across the globe reveal a wide array of effects: destabilization of major ice sheets, rapidly melting glaciers, increases in extreme weather, rising sea level, shifts in species ranges, and more.

Human activities have changed the climate of the Earth, with significant impacts on ecosystems and human society, and the pace of change is increasing. Humanity must act collectively and urgently to change course through leadership at all levels of society. Governments, corporations, and individuals must act now to forge a new path to a sustainable future with a stable climate and a robust environment. There is no more time for delay and the time to act is now. Learn more...

The main challenge now is to keep climate change from becoming a catastrophe. There is still a good chance of succeeding in this, and of doing so by means that create economic opportunities that are greater than the costs and that advance rather than impede other societal goals. But seizing this chance requires an immediate and major acceleration of efforts on two fronts: mitigation measures (such as reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases and black soot) to prevent the degree of climate change from becoming unmanageable; and adaptation measures (such as building dikes and adjusting agricultural practices) to reduce the harm from climate change that proves unavoidable.

There are many opportunities for taking effective early action at little or no cost. Many of these opportunities also have other environmental or societal benefits. Even if some of the subsequent steps required are more difficult and expensive, their costs are virtually certain to be smaller than the costs of the climate-change damages these measures would avert. Find out how you can help

Read full report: Confronting Climate Change: Avoiding the Unmanageable and Managing the Unavoidable"

"The general idea of "taxing bads" may be accepted in the abstract, but when it comes to fuel (or electricity for that matter), the support tends to evaporate." ~ Thomas Sterner

What You Should Know

Delaying action to address climate change will increase the environmental and societal consequences as well as the costs. The longer we wait to tackle climate change, the harder and more expensive the task will be.

As expected, intensification of droughts, heat waves, floods, wildfires, and severe storms is occurring, with a mounting toll on vulnerable ecosystems and societies. These events are early warning signs of even more devastating damage to come, some of which will be irreversible.

It is very strange that those who would accept the general facts of universal natural resources do not perceive that they are taking away the ground from under the feet of the natural environment.

It is very important to understand the impacts of 1.5°C global warming above pre-industrial levels and related global emission pathways in the context of strengthening the response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty.

The average temperature of the Earth is heading for levels not experienced for millions of years.

Two starkly different futures diverge from this time forward. Society's current path leads to increasingly serious climate-change impacts, including potentially catastrophic changes in climate that will compromise efforts to achieve development objectives where there is poverty and will threaten standards of living where there is affluence.

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