Climate demands we make changes

This is a time for serious humility. That’s my feeling about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s newly published Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5C.

The effects of climate change are already upon us. There is no escaping from this. But it is within our grasp to avoid far greater harms, to humbly retreat from the causes of this slow-motion catastrophe. By reminding us what’s at stake, the IPCC report should be a call to action, not despondency.

It is daunting, no doubt. Even if we stabilise global warming at 1.5C — which is politically difficult but technically feasible — the world is expected to lose between 70 per cent and 90 per cent of its coral reefs.

If we stabilise at 2C, we lose more than 99 per cent.

Think about the flow-on effects for fish stocks, then for the people who rely on these for sustenance. Then consider that the Paris Agreement pledges, even if we fulfil them, commit us to 3C warming. Economic analysis can’t do justice to this harm.

It is easy to offload responsibility on to others. It is easy to think someone else will sort