Daniel Esty, editor of A Better Planet: Forty Big Ideas for a Sustainable Future explains the Zero Carbon Action Plan and talks about why A Better Planet is relevant for the discussions arising from COP26. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Climate change will be at centre stage as global leaders gather in Glasgow for the November 1-12 COP26
Kent H. Redford and William M. Adams explain why synthetic biology and nature-based solutions are important for the discussions arising from COP26. Biodiversity and Climate Change The effects of climate change impact all aspects of life on Earth, and greater changes are anticipated. The evolution of species is being affected,
Jo Handelsman, Kayla Cohen, Garth Harmsworth, and Shaun Awatere tell us about the importance of soil and why the voices of indigenous people must be heard at the COP26 table. The 2021 United Nations climate change conference, COP26, marks the world’s next big step toward limiting global warming to 1.5
James Ladyman & Karoline Wiesner— In 2015 representatives of 196 states agreed to hold the warming of average global atmospheric temperature above pre-industrial levels to well below 2°C, and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C—this is the Paris Agreement. However, just a few years later, in 2019, warming
Courtney Durham— Considering the current impediments to disaster risk reduction and growing risk from climate change, a number of policies can help nations shift the balance from reactivity to proactivity. First, disaster managers should build contingency plans for a variety of disaster scenarios, drawing on the Sendai Framework for Disaster
Michael Mendez— No other politico in Washington, DC, has moved the issue of climate change to a national platform of prominence so quickly as Democratic Congress member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Her “Green New Deal” is a radical proposal to decarbonize America’s economy while tackling inequality. It has stirred passionate reactions from
Jon Coaffee— Recent scientific research has revealed that we have drastically underestimated the threat of climate change, with the impacts of sea level rise and extreme weather abnormalities likely to be felt most dramatically in large urban conurbations. Almost exactly seven years after Hurricane Sandy hit the US Eastern seaboard causing devastation
In our new book A Better Planet, leading environmentalists present long-term solutions for a sustainable future amid our ecological crisis. The forty essays advocate a bipartisan program and cover topics like forestry, agriculture, data, public health, natural disasters, and city planning. We’ve selected excerpts from nine of the essays that
William D. Nordhaus— Begin by stepping back and asking a basic question. Why is global warming such a special problem? Why is it a global problem and not a national problem or a household problem? Why is it such a persistent problem? The economics of climate change is straightforward. Virtually
Leslie Anthony— Life on our planet is changing, of that there can be no doubt. That alien invasive species are a measurable component of this is also clear. The questions raised, then, are simple, and essentially those we began with: do we care about this? And if so, what are