In a year when the climate has roared with unprecedented ferocity — with more and more people confronting a daily reality of debilitating heat, deadly wildfires and flooding, and devastating droughts — the long-term benchmarks that guide global climate talks have never felt so futile.
The focus of this year’s U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP28) cannot be 2050 or 2040 or even 2035. It must be on the here and now, and it must produce new action that will dramatically reduce emissions by 2030.
I have long warned against decades-long time horizons for climate goals because they serve as excuses for dangerous delay and inaction. By this point, the warning sign should be flashing red.
As this year looks to be the hottest in recorded history, we have seen alarming new evidence of two connected shifts that could bring catastrophe: the accelerating melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, which could lead to severe sea-level rise along the world’s coastlines; and the risk of the Atlantic ocean currents — which help stabilize the global climate — collapsing, leading to more extreme winters in Europe and extreme heat in the tropics.
Whether these two calamities come to pass may well depend on how much we can accomplish before 2030. That is why pledges and commitments, no matter how bold or well-meaning, are not enough. We must inject the fight against climate change with a newfound urgency by focusing on effective ways to cut emissions right now.