Institute responds to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change synthesis report

Commenting on the release today by the secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of its synthesis report on nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement, Bob Ward, Policy and Communications Director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said: “This analysis shows the world is in deep, deep trouble. Only 64 of 195 Parties to the Paris Agreement have submitted revised plans for more ambitious cuts in greenhouse gases, and collectively they are still not consistent with the ambition of reaching net zero emissions by 2050 to have a reasonable chance of limiting warming to 1.5 Celsius degrees above pre-industrial level. With the United States under Donald Trump now pretending that climate change does not exist, and many populist leaders in other parts of the world copying his recklessness, the world is faced with a stark choice. 

“We can choose either wilful ignorance about the risks we face, which will lead to even more devastating consequences and more human suffering, or we can accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels, the primary driver of climate change. With Jamaica tragically experiencing the extreme destruction of Hurricane Melissa, which grew rapidly in strength due to the abnormally warm waters in the Caribbean Sea, no sane person can deny the damage that climate change is already causing to the world. The question is whether we are smart enough to save ourselves from further harm.”