COMMENT | Climate action for people and planet: The time is now

COMMENT | In this pivotal year for humanity, now is the time for bold climate action.

The science is irrefutable and globally agreed: to stop the climate crisis from becoming a permanent catastrophe, we must limit global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

To do this, we must get to net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by mid-century. Countries making up about two-thirds of the global economy have committed to do so. This is encouraging, but we urgently need every country, city, business, and financial institution to join this coalition and adopt concrete plans for transitioning to net zero.

Even more urgent is for governments to match this long-term ambition with concrete actions now, as trillions of dollars are mobilised to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic. Revitalizing economies is our chance to re-engineer our future.

The world has a strong framework for action: the Paris Agreement, in which all countries committed to set their own national climate action plans and strengthen them every five years. Over five years later, and with damning proof that if we don’t act we will destroy our planet, it is time for decisive and effective action as the United Nations convenes all countries in Glasgow in November for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26)...