Climate change presents one of the greatest challenges of our time. Efforts to reduce emissions have ultimately failed: climate change is now inevitable, and the focus has now shifted towards ways to avoid dangerous climate change. The scale and rate of change needed to mitigate dangerous climate change is unprecedented, and the global transition to a sustainable and net-zero economy will affect the way we live our lives, as individuals and communities, from local to international scale. This transition presents an intertwined set of environmental, societal, and political challenges.
Climate change presents one of the greatest challenges of our time.
Policy action will determine the impact and mitigation of, as well as our adaptation (IMA) to, climate change – which in turn shape policy. Yet, policy-makers are also influenced by and accountable to other actors, including the public, interest groups, and international partners, whose interests and views might not align with the recommendations of scientists. The monitoring and measurement of our global environment and public policy are therefore intricately connected in shaping our response to climate change and sustainability, but the dynamics of political competition and other societal challenges, such as economic inequalities and interstate conflicts, may inhibit their mutual responsiveness.